Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at New York Gov. Kathy Hochul for calling on top Republicans in her state to flee to Florida.
DeSantis blasted Hochul’s stance that conservatives “are not New Yorkers,” arguing people with differing political views should be able to coexist in the same state.
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“You have the governor of New York saying all Republicans need to get on a bus and leave the state and come to Florida,” DeSantis bemoaned at a press conference on Tuesday, the New York Post reported. “Who would say something so ridiculous? To say, ‘If you don’t agree with me, then you don’t even have a right to be here.’”
Earlier this month, while stumping for congressional hopeful Pat Ryan in the 19th Congressional District, Hochul declared that his Republican rival Marcus Molinaro, her gubernatorial GOP rival Lee Zeldin, and former President Donald Trump should leave the state.
“Trump and Zeldin and Molinaro — just jump on a bus and head down to Florida where you belong, OK? Get out of town because you don’t represent our values,” Hochul said. “You’re not New Yorkers.”
She reiterated her stance later, arguing the three Republicans harbored extremist views.
“I spoke about three people whose views we believe are extreme. They supported the overturning of a presidential election,” she said in defense of her comments, Spectrum News reported.
DeSantis also took aim at heated rhetoric from other Democrats such as President Joe Biden, who likened elements of the “MAGA philosophy” to “semi-fascism” during a fundraiser last week.
“And now you have Biden,” DeSantis said, lamenting growing Democratic hostility toward conservatives, per the New York Post. “He’s going to say … the majority of the country that opposes his policies are somehow semi-fascist.”
The Florida governor held the press conference Tuesday to announce a grant to fund Suwannee County to improve its water infrastructure.
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On Wednesday, Hochul held a press conference with New York City Mayor Eric Adams and other officials to discuss a slew of gun control measures that will go into effect on Thursday and over the next week. This includes myriad reforms signed into law earlier this year, such as raising the age to purchase a semi-automatic weapon, strengthening background checks, and more.
The reforms followed the Buffalo shooting in May that left 10 dead and three wounded.
