Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign spokeswoman Christina Pushaw has become something of a legend for her quick-witted, scathing responses to critics of her boss. She was at it again Monday as New York City Mayor Eric Adams sarcastically welcomed DeSantis to the Big Apple where he was scheduled to attend a pro-police event.
“Welcome to NYC,” the Mayor tweeted. But the welcoming tone didn’t last long:
Welcome to NYC, @GovRonDeSantis, a place where we don’t ban books, discriminate against our LGBTQ+ neighbors, use asylum seekers as props, or let the government stand between a woman and health care.
We’re happy to teach you something about values while you’re here. https://t.co/o2CgOt1SES
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) February 20, 2023
Boy, you’d think Adams would know better than this. He literally teed the ball up for Team DeSantis and handed them a golf club. Pushaw was ready:
Nice rhetoric — but here’s reality: More Americans fled NYC than any other metro area last year.
More Americans moved to Florida than any other state.
You know this, Mayor Adams, and you’ve talked (accurately) about crime pushing people out of NYC. Florida’s crime rate… https://t.co/gHru8I12PS
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) February 20, 2023
Here’s the full tweet:
Nice rhetoric — but here’s reality: More Americans fled NYC than any other metro area last year. More Americans moved to Florida than any other state. You know this, Mayor Adams, and you’ve talked (accurately) about crime pushing people out of NYC. Florida’s crime rate meanwhile is at a 50 year low.
Maybe it’s you who can learn from @RonDeSantisFL?
Pushaw didn’t have to resort to silly personal attacks or excessive rhetoric—she came armed with the most potent weapon of all: the facts. It is true that New Yorkers are leaving in droves, and many of them indeed are relocating to the Sunshine State.
It’s also true that seemingly not a day goes by when we don’t read about someone in NYC getting assaulted on the subway or getting randomly punched in the head.
In fact, more New Yorkers moved to Florida from New York than any other year in history. You might want to do your homework next time, Mayor Adams, before you go into attack mode.
DeSantis piled on later in the day, pointing out that while Florida is getting safer, New York just continues to get more and more dangerous:
I visited Staten Island to talk about how law & order has been central to FL's success.
FL leads the nation in protecting LEOs & our crime rate is at a 50-year low, while NYC saw a 23% surge in major crime in 2022.
Anti-police politicians should stop catering to the woke mob. pic.twitter.com/FpFDy0V4DZ
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) February 20, 2023
Adams looks pretty foolish after this encounter. He touts progressive values, insinuating that DeSantis is a bigot, but it’s hard to worry about such issues when you’re scared to leave your apartment.
This isn’t the first time a failed blue-state leader has come after DeSantis; in September, California Governor Gavin Newsom inexplicably ran cringe-worthy ads criticizing his fellow executive for his state’s COVID response. Like Adams, he probably wishes he hadn’t, because DeSantis got the better of him with the same weapon Pushaw used: facts.
“As he [Newsom] was locking down his citizens, he would then go and have these extravagant dinners at the French Laundry to basically rub his citizens’ noses in the fact that he was treating them like peasants,” DeSantis responded. “You know in Florida we weren’t locking them down, we lifted our people up. We made sure to protect individuals’ freedoms.”
At a September press conference, he again roasted Newsom over his attacks:
“I hear a lot of people chirping about Florida from California. They’re so worried about Florida,” DeSantis said. “They can’t even keep the power on in California, are you kidding me?”
You’d think Newsom and Adams would be smart enough not to go after a governor who is vastly outperforming them. In both California and New York City, crime and homelessness are surging, their COVID responses were draconian and ineffective, and people are voting with their feet and getting the heck out.
I hope they do keep attacking the Florida governor, though, because it just keeps giving Team DeSantis opportunities to highlight just how poorly they’re doing their jobs. Plus, it’s fun to watch.
Story cited here.
