JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The political future for Ron and Casey DeSantis seems very precarious. Political analysts say it may even be in jeopardy. In fact, those analysts will tell you their more immediate present may also be in jeopardy.
They hoped to establish a dynasty. Then, a scandal tied to Hope Florida surfaced. Claims to the future of the Republican party are very much in question in Florida and nationally.
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There are many Florida Republicans who were solidly in the couple’s corner not all that long ago, but they have turned on DeSantis. It has created roadblocks to his agenda.
To say it is frustrating the governor would be an understatement. At the same time, his wife, Casey, was laying the groundwork to succeed him as governor in Tallahassee, and now there are major roadblocks.
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Here’s what is happening: There is a scandal concerning Hope Florida, a state assistance program and a pet project for Casey DeSantis.
Lawmakers are in the midst of an investigation. They want to know why $10 million from a state Medicaid settlement was routed to a charity with ties to Hope Florida. It transferred the money, the same $10 million, to two groups that financially backed a DeSantis-led campaign against legalizing recreational marijuana.
Lawmakers say that’s the short story.
Of course, there are at least two sides to every story, and the DeSantis couple fiercely defends their actions. Ron and Casey stand by their work and deny doing anything wrong. Gov. DeSantis recently called the criticism “all political.” Casey characterized the Hope Florida program this way: “a philosophy” that “shows we can help people in need.”
Who investigated Hope Florida? Republicans, not Democrats.
Republican Rep. Alex Andrade led a House panel looking into the Hope Florida scandal. That probe ended last month but outlined a series of damning revelations.
While the House may have finished its inquiries for now, many questions remain unanswered. Andrade has promised to resume his oversight of Hope Florida when legislative committee hearings begin in the Fall.
Casey DeSantis has not officially announced a gubernatorial bid. Political operatives say she shouldn’t until this blows over -- if it does.
Her husband keeps asking, “Why the hell are they doing this?” And he means his supposed allies, or former allies, Republicans. He wants to know why they are antagonizing him.
During the recent legislative session, they didn’t give him an easy go of it. So, why are they?
Gov. DeSantis does have one theory. It’s all for political gain.
“Some people feel threatened by the first lady. Let’s just be clear about that,” DeSantis said at a news conference earlier this month. “If you’re looking at 2026 and you’ve got some horse, you don’t want her anywhere near that. You’re very worried because she runs circles around their people. Everybody knows that.”
Keep in mind, there is someone else who wants to be governor: Byron Donalds. And he has the endorsement of one Donald J. Trump. Does that answer Ron DeSantis’ question as to why the proverbial “They” are doing this?
Former allies are pouncing. Foes are pouncing. Political analysts say the present and future don’t look so good for the once-powerful DeSantis couple.
‘Unraveling’ civil rights protections
Now, switching gears on Politics & Power, we turn the focus to President Trump’s second-term agenda and eliminating diversity initiatives.
It’s been done in federal agencies. The nation has seen provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 rolled back, and staff members working on civil rights issues have lost their jobs. In fact, they have been fired by the administration.
Activists and civil rights experts are not pulling any punches. They say the administration has done more to unravel civil rights work than any president in recent history.
In a recent article in USA Today, Fatima Goss Gaves, president of the National Women’s Law Center, was quoted as saying, “The pace of unraveling … civil rights protections have been unlike anything I’ve seen in my lifetime. ... It is a reminder that we have to fight again and again for those critical protections.”
Political analysts say Trump’s policies and the way he’s orienting his government combine as an assault on the Great Society legislation President Lyndon B. Johnson pushed through in the 1960s, including the Voting Rights Act, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965.
In that same article, the president argues: it was well past time to redirect the priorities of the federal Justice Department and push back against what they call the “woke agenda.”
There are challenges in the courts. More than 200 lawsuits have been filed. Still, activists say the damage has been done and the administration has begun dismantling laws protecting people from discrimination in schools, the workplace and at the polls.
And there is more. There are concerns that cuts to Medicaid spending, higher education programs like Pell Grants, or Head Start programs would also hurt efforts at making the U.S. a more equitable society.
Mark Updegrove, a presidential historian and CEO of the LBJ Foundation said, “If you ultimately look at what Trump is doing, it is aimed at taking down the laws of the Great Society, which are effectively, in my view, the foundation of modern America and the path to a plural democracy for the first time in our history.”
Mr. Trump appears to be, in analysts’ eyes, leaning hard into ending what it sees as anti-Christian bias. He says, “We’re bringing religion back to our country.”
He told people gathered at a prayer breakfast that some people might be surprised to hear that there is bias against Christians in a country that is majority Christian.
But not all Christians agree with the president. Many Christians say that anti-Christian bias does not exist in the widespread way it is being portrayed by the administration.
Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush, of the Interfaith Alliance, said: “When he discusses anti-Christian bias, he isn’t referring to Christianity at large or mainstream Christianity, which includes Episcopalians, Catholics, Lutherans, Quakers, and even the LDS Church.”
Brandeis goes on to say, “This White House exploits faith for power, following a Christian nationalist playbook.”
Those fighting for civil rights say if left unchallenged, all of what is happening may set the Civil Rights Movement back decades.
Political analyst Daniel Cronrath joins me to discuss these topics and more on this week’s episode of Politics & Power. Watch at 7 p.m. or 9 p.m. on News4JAX+ or catch it anytime on demand on News4JAX+, News4JAX.com or our YouTube channel.