On Friday, Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign released an ad that turned heads as it attempted to promote anti-LGBTQ+ policy while bashing former President Trump for his previous support of the community.
Topline
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg blasted an unusual ad by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign that criticized former President Donald Trump’s commitments to the LGBTQ+ community and implied DeSantis will take a harder line against trans rights—arguing Sunday the governor is trying to compete over “who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community.”Key Facts
During an interview on CNN’s State of the Union, Buttigieg—the first openly gay Cabinet secretary to get Senate confirmation—said the ad called into question what policies DeSantis was focused on and who those policies were trying to help.
Buttigieg described the ad as an attempt for DeSantis to prove his “manhood” using video “that splices images of [DeSantis]
in between oiled-up, shirtless bodybuilders.”
Crucial Quote
“I just don’t understand the mentality of somebody who gets up in the morning, thinking that he’s going to prove his worth by competing over who can make life hardest for a hard-hit community, that is already so vulnerable in America,” Buttigieg said of DeSantis during the CNN interview.
