Though it’s not yet “official,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is widely expected to run for president. In his first term as governor, he made himself a darling of the Republi-fascist party by opposing public health measures to combat the COVID pandemic, arresting Black people for voting (some at gunpoint), raging against teaching children about America’s white supremacist foundations, and enacting the “Don’t Say Gay” law. Then he got reelected with a huge victory margin (19 percent) in 2022.

So now many consider him the fascist with the best chance to unseat the king fascist, Trump, for the Republican presidential nomination. Time will tell. But in his second term, DeSantis has been making one shocking fascist move after another, to show he’s got what it takes to lead the fascist transformation of the U.S. as a whole. And whether DeSantis is the nominee or not, what he is doing tells us a lot about the future the Republi-fascists envision. Here is the short list of these moves:

• Expanding the “Don’t Say Gay” law from covering grades 1-3 to cover all grades from kindergarten to graduation.

• Enacting a total ban on abortion after six weeks (before most women realize they are pregnant), with exceptions for rape or incest—if you can provide documentation! This bill “makes Florida one of the most restrictive states in the country to obtain an abortion.”
• Pushing a law to strip medical professionals of their licenses and/or charge them with felonies for providing gender-affirming medical treatment (such as hormones) to transgender minors. In some cases, the law allows the state to strip parents of custody for helping their kids get this care.
• Taking revenge on the Disney Corporation for publicly speaking out against “Don’t Say Gay.” DeSantis used his control of the legislature to strip Disney World of tax and zoning benefits granted long ago to Disney World, and has made other threats since then.¹
• Enacting a law to make it easier for juries to issue death sentences. Florida now requires only eight jurors to vote for execution, the least in the country. Even Alabama requires 10 votes, and 23 of the 27 states in which the state can legally murder prisoners require a unanimous jury vote.
• Removing from office Tampa prosecutor Andrew Warren, an elected official, because he publicly pledged not to prosecute people for seeking or providing abortions.
• “Hostile takeover” of Sarasota’s New College. This small state-run school has a reputation for encouraging critical thinking and being a place where LGBTQ, disabled, “brainy” and other “outsiders” can “fit in” and thrive. In January, DeSantis and his allies overhauled the school’s Board of Trustees, giving it a fascist majority, one of whom tweeted that “The student body will be recomposed,” with progressive students “self-selecting out,” replaced by “new students who are mission-aligned.” The school president (and several other administrators) was fired and replaced by a Republican politician. Curriculum is being rewritten to be more “conservative.” The AP reports, “Students and faculty say America should take note because the transformation at New College could become a blueprint with national implications as DeSantis gears up for a likely presidential bid.”

• And, in fact, DeSantis is waging a sweeping assault on any educational institution or activity in Florida that even recognizes historic and present-day oppression of Black and brown people, of women, and of LGBTQ people. A comprehensive article on VOX documents the extent and depth of this assault.
• A major element is banning “critical race theory” (CRT) from classrooms and even campus activities. DeSantis and other fascists use “CRT”—which is a specific academic theory regarding racism in the U.S.—as a stand-in for any discussion of the deep veins of white supremacy that mark U.S. history and the ways it is embedded in and reproduced by social, political and economic institutions. Instead they demand “historical accuracy”—which is their double-think term for whitewashing the actual crimes and character of the U.S. in favor of racist fantasies about how slavery was “good for” Black people, “Officer Friendly” cops, and “equality and justice for all.”

• As part of enforcing this whitewash, DeSantis is calling for the elimination of all Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs at Florida state colleges and universities, and ordering that higher education institutions not fund or support any activity that “espouses diversity, equity, and inclusion or critical race theory rhetoric.” Some faculty, staff and students on DEI committees report having their emails searched; others say all their programs and activities have been canceled!
• In a blatant targeting of the press and free speech rights, a DeSantis ally in the state senate introduced a bill in February that would “compel ‘bloggers’ who criticize the governor, other officers of the executive branch, or members of the legislature to register with the state of Florida. Under the bill, anyone paid to write on the internet would have to file monthly reports every time they utter a government official’s name in a critical manner. If not, they’d face potentially thousands of dollars in fines.”