We Guess Ron DeSantis Just Loves Threatening Businesses!
As the judge said, 'It's the First Amendment, stupid.' No, he said that in a decision!
Earlier this month, about a week after his office sent out letters threatening Florida television stations and demanding they stop airing ads in support of the state’s abortion ballot initiative, the general counsel for the Florida Department of Health handed in his resignation.
THESE LETTERS. IT WAS THESE.
“A man is nothing without his conscience,” John Wilson wrote in his resignation letter, which was obtained by the Miami Herald. “It has become clear in recent days that I cannot join you on the road that lies before the agency.”
This was rather smart of him, as it’s not a good road. In fact, it’s such a bad road that, not long after Wilson resigned, a federal judge stepped in and told Ron DeSantis that he’s not allowed to go there either.
US District Judge Mark Walker helpfully informed Ron DeSantis and all of Florida that he’s actually not allowed to threaten to throw people in prison for exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech.
“To keep it simple for the State of Florida: it’s the First Amendment, stupid,” Walker wrote.
This likely came as a surprise to DeSantis, who — like most on the Right these days — is quite sure that “free speech” means that everyone must very patiently listen to people who wish to say horrifically bigoted things and then never, ever criticize them or hurt their feelings.
The letters are also the subject of a federal lawsuit filed by Floridians Protecting Freedom, which sponsored the abortion rights amendment and aired the ad. Wilson was initially named in the suit but has since been dropped, after filing an affidavit testifying to the fact that he did not write the letters threatening television executives with jail should they air the ad, and was pressured by DeSantis’s general counsel Ryan Newman and assistant general counsel Jed Doty to sign them as if they were his own and send them to the stations.
Wilson says he had no participation in crafting the demands, but went ahead and signed them nevertheless because it was what the governor demanded. He says he was subsequently pressured to send more letters to the television executives and resigned instead.
“I resigned from my position as general counsel in lieu of complying with directives from Newman and Doty to send out further correspondence to media outlets,” he wrote.
Good for him! At least he’s got some moral compunctions, which is more than anyone can say for anyone else working under Ron DeSantis. Perhaps he will inspire others in Florida government to stop “just following orders.”
PREVIOUSLY ON WONKETTE!
You’ve got Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump threatening to jail anyone who disagrees with them. You’ve got Elon musk turning Twitter into 4chan nazi hellscape. You got stochastic terrorism sent to libraries and schools for being “woke”.
But yeah, Republicans are totally the party of “free speech”.
𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐬 '𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞' 𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 '𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧'
The Hill's Hanna Trudo reported that "Trump was scheduled to hold a virtual roundtable with RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard today, which has now been canceled."
***
Republicans are voting for Vance at this point.
If they think he'll make it to the end of '25, they really are idiots.