Journalist shreds Ron DeSantis for treating voters as 'dumber than a sack of Matt Gaetzes' in gas tax scheme

A veteran journalist laid into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for abusing his power -- and costing taxpayers money -- to aid his re-election campaign.

The Florida Republican, who's widely believed to be eying a 2024 presidential run, has picked fights with COVID-19 experts, Disney World, the Special Olympics and many others in his political rise, but Tampa Bay Times guest columnist Daniel Ruth said DeSantis had reached a new low by pausing a 25-cent reduction in gas taxes.

"It seems a factotum on the governor’s crack staff suggested it might be a swell idea to delay the 25-cent tax break until October, which by amazing coincidence is the month before the November election," Ruth wrote. "Whew! No political mischief at work. Nothing to see here. Of course, the governor could have said, 'Not on my watch! I’m not going to use the fine people of Florida as mere political pawns to advance my electoral prospects.''"

"Instead, he went along with the scam, which only proves we all have a price; it’s only a matter of negotiation," Ruth added. "And Ron DeSantis can be had at 25 cents. Such a deal."

Florida Republicans insisted the tax cut was delayed until tourism season was over, but Ruth said that's obviously ridiculous and not even backed by the state's own tourism data.

"DeSantis is assuming the people of Florida are stupid, that they are dumber than a sack of Matt Gaetzes," Ruth wrote. "It’s not entirely a bad bet. Cynical, yes, but in DeSantis world, the people can’t be hurt by what they don’t know."