Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Gives the Roadmap to Liberty at CPAC

Well, that sure sounded like a presidential stump speech. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took the stage at CPAC on Thursday afternoon and brought the house down.

Well-deserved standing O for @RonDeSantisFL! pic.twitter.com/78acWMLI8v
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) February 24, 2022

The crowd was on its feet even before DeSantis took the stage during the introduction by Matt and Mercedes Schlapp of CPAC. The intro video itself caused raucous applause in the conference hall. As he took the stage, DeSantis threw Let Us Alone hats to the crowd, driving them nuts.

Governor @RonDeSantisFL is about to take the stage at CPAC in the FREE state of Florida. 👀

Tune in at 1:30 PM ET ⬇️🐊🔥 #KeepFloridaFree https://t.co/Q2Qvpv6zu0 pic.twitter.com/jLrLotU416
— Team DeSantis 🐊 (@teamrondesantis) February 24, 2022

CPAC 2022 opens with a pump up video about @GovRonDeSantis. Then, he walks out to massive applause. Throws hats to crowd. pic.twitter.com/wfZANAkuj8
— Jay O'Brien (@jayobtv) February 24, 2022

“CPAC, let me welcome you to the freest state in the United States!” With that, DeSantis launched into a fire-and-brimstone defense of law enforcement, conservative values, fiscal responsibility, low taxes, and liberty in Florida, while deriding woke cancel culture in blue states. At one point, he reiterated the point that folks are flooding into Florida to escape blue states, swelling registered Republicans — from 300,000 fewer than registered Democrats in 2018, to exceeding them by over 82,000 now. With that, he debunked the fear of blue-state voters moving to free states and voting to destroy them, like they destroyed their former homes by voting for Democrats.

DeSantis struck a defiant tone, referring to pandemic lockdowns as a “Faucian dystopia.” He continued to define the battlegrounds in the culture wars, saying later, “We are not going to let Florida become Portland” and “In Florida we reject the biomedical security state.”

He got a standing ovation when he said, “We reject vaccine passports and mandates.” DeSantis then touted his strong record on liberty, reminding the crowd that he called the Florida legislature into a special session in November 2021 to pass laws nullifying the Brandon administration’s oppressive pandemic mitigation policies.

Yes, Ron DeSantis called it the Brandon administration. Perfect.

DeSantis reminded the raucous crowd that Florida legalized vaccine passport exemptions so expansive that virtually no employee in Florida would not be able to take advantageof them.

“We stood for freedom and liberty, and the result is that Florida defeated Faucism!”

Declaring his constitutional duty as governor, DeSantis said, “My duty is to stand for the freedoms and the jobs of the people I represent, and if that means I take abuse, so be it.”

He then gave a devastating rundown of President Joe Biden’s failures, sending a clear message that he’s paying attention to the national political scene. He said Biden’s first year was the worst first year of any president since the 1800s. As both governor, and as a potential front-runner for the GOP nomination for president in 2024, DeSantis said he has a duty to push back against an out-of-control federal government and create a “beacon and bastion of freedom” in Florida. He noted a man from Australia who emailed him, thanking him for giving people around the world the hope that freedom still exists somewhere in the world.

And, of course, he said he would re-route the illegal aliens Biden has sent to Florida in late night flights — to Biden’s home state of Delaware.

Applause line after applause line.

If he’s not running for president, someone should borrow that speech as a stump speech.