FL Democrat Gubernatorial Hopeful Charlie Crist Claims Ron DeSantis Is the ‘Biggest Threat to Democracy’ Since Trump

Democrat gubernatorial hopeful Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) is sounding the alarm, attempting to rally the left’s base in Florida by deeming Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) the “biggest threat to democracy” since former President Donald Trump.

“We’re going to go up against the biggest threat to democracy we’ve seen since Trump: Ron DeSantis,” Crist said in what he presumably hoped to be a valiant tweet.

“Victory will only be possible if we show up in large numbers,” he continued, bravely asking his followers to retweet his battle cry to gain more followers ahead of Florida’s primary race on Tuesday:

We’re going to go up against the biggest threat to democracy we’ve seen since Trump: Ron DeSantis.

Victory will only be possible if we show up in large numbers, can you retweet this to help me reach 160K followers before the election on Tuesday?

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) August 22, 2022

Crist has long been considered the frontrunner in the Democrat gubernatorial primary race in the Sunshine State, with Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried (D) standing as his main competitor. Current polls are sending mixed signals on what could be a tight matchup on Tuesday.

Crist has attempted to out-radicalize his closest competitor throughout the primary race, deeming DeSantis a threat to democracy itself, despite the governor rising to the national spotlight after standing up against big government mandates, rules, and restrictions throughout and after the Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Notably, Crist said on the campaign trail that he would be open to forcing masks in Florida if so-called experts advised it. He remains in like-minded company, however, as Fried has also described DeSantis as a “danger to democracy.”

In the months following the pandemic, DeSantis prioritized protecting children from woke indoctrination in schools, signing the Parental Rights in Education bill, which bars inappropriate classroom discussions on gender identity and sexual orientation for children in kindergarten through third grade. At the time, Crist mourned the law, declaring it a “grim day” now that teachers could no longer inject transgender ideology into classrooms of young children:

It's a grim day for Florida. Today especially, I want our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters in Florida and across the country to know that they are loved and will always be welcomed in the Sunshine State. pic.twitter.com/ktwbJklZVe

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) March 28, 2022

Further, Crist proudly announced in June that he would prioritize protecting the dismemberment of unborn children (though he called it “reproductive freedom”) on day one in office:

On my first day as governor, I will sign an Executive Order to protect reproductive freedom in Florida.

— Charlie Crist (@CharlieCrist) June 25, 2022

DeSantis, on the other hand, signed a 15-week abortion ban bill in April, and despite legal challenges, the governor has held steady.

“These are unborn babies that have heartbeats, they can feel pain, they can suck their thumb. And to say that the state constitution mandates things like dismemberment abortions — I just don’t think that’s the proper interpretation,” he said over the summer.

Crist’s plea for massive turnout is not an unwarranted cry, as registered Republicans now outnumber registered Democrats in the state by more than 200,000 voters.