'Heartless aspiring autocrat': MSNBC legal analyst cautions Ron DeSantis is a 'danger to democracy'

11 March 2023

MSNBC political and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner is warning Americans Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' threat to democracy, Newsweek reports.

In response to author Brynn Tannehill's Twitter thread outlining the ways DeSantis exudes fascism, Kirschner tweeted, "Great thread here about the danger to democracy posed by DeSantis. Plus, when I saw him say, with a stupid smirk on his face, that, just for fun he, 'sent 50 illegals to Martha's Vineyard,' it reinforced that he's an inhumane man. Let's defeat this heartless aspiring autocrat."

In her thread, Tannehill was responding to The Brookings Institution senior fellow Shadi Hamid's assertion DeSantis does not pose as massive a threat to democracy as his potential GOP nominee rival, former President Donal Trump.

Hamid wrote on March 1, "It's remarkable to me that there's a single sentient being who believes that DeSantis would be just as bad or even worse than Trump. And anyone who calls DeSantis a 'fascist' should be run out of the room."

The author tweeted in response, "This is such an incredibly bad take, and it is completely contemptuous of those people who actually spent their post graduate education studying how democracies collapse. I wrote at TNR about this, but I will summarize here why smart people can believe DeSantis is worse."

Newsweek reports:

Throughout the extensive thread, Tannehill made the common argument against DeSantis that he is a more competent politician than Trump who could more effectively implement undemocratic policies. She dismissed Trump as "an authoritarian figure who limits the amount of destruction he can cause via his own incompetence," and said that DeSantis "understands how the levers of power work, and he knows how to put the right people in the right places to get exactly the results he wants."

The former senior defense analyst wrote, "We can see in Florida how book bans have played out. How health care bans for women and trans people are going down. There's proposals to force people to misgender trans students and teachers, and ban the Democratic Party in FL."

The Berkeley Beacon reports:

DeSantis claims to be a role model for free speech and expression, however, he has leveraged state authority to actively retaliate against private companies for speaking out against his 'Parental Rights in Education Bill,' also known as the 'Don't Say, Gay Bill.' In April 2022, DeSantis signed a bill revoking The Walt Disney Company's control over its own self-governed special district within the state, putting an end to the benefits Disney has enjoyed for 55 years.

Furthermore, regarding the possible presidential hopeful's authoritarian ways, Tannehill said, "He's effectively used the power of the government to bring corporations to heel the way Putin reins in oligarchs. He's getting laws passed that make it difficult or impossible for people to criticize him by tearing down NYT v. Sullivan. This is authoritarianism 101 stuff."

Newsweek's full report is available at this link. The Berkeley Beacon's full report is here.

From Your Site Articles