Ron DeSantis Rebuked by Florida Newspaper After Annual Address: 'Puffery'

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis at the CNN Republican Presidential Primary Debate in Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University on January 10, 2024, in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Orlando Sentinel, the primary newspaper of Orlando, Florida, rebuked Governor Ron DeSantis after he gave his annual address, calling his mentions of the state “mere puffery.”

DeSantis has been serving as Florida’s governor since 2019 and he is a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential election.

In a joint piece published on Wednesday by the Orlando Sentinel and South Florida Sun Sentinel editorial boards titled: State of the state? Delusional, according to DeSantis, the governor was criticized for focusing too much on making himself look good ahead of the Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus on January 15 and too little on the actual problems facing Floridians.

DeSantis spoke to Florida lawmakers during his annual State of the State address in Tallahassee on Tuesday, which was filmed for Floridians to watch. The address, which formally launches the 60-day legislative session in Florida’s government, is typically used as a way to look back on past accomplishments and forward at future challenges.

The editorial boards said of the address: “Most mentions of Florida were mere puffery, with little indication of what DeSantis intends to accomplish.”

Newsweek reached out to the governor’s office via email for comment.

DeSantis mentioned during his address how, upon his request, the legislature had reduced taxes on families facing “federal government-induced inflation.”

“We have made it tax-free to raise a child in Florida by permanently removing taxes on baby items – cribs, strollers, diapers, baby wipes, clothing, and children’s shoes, among other items,” he said.

The Orlando Sentinel said DeSantis’ claim that he made it tax free to raise a child was “ludicrous,” adding, “a handful of sales-tax breaks do not change the fact that Florida’s tax burden falls disproportionately on the shoulders of its lowest income families.”

DeSantis also talked about how Florida continues to protect children and the rights of parents.

“We protected our children from indoctrination and sexualized curriculum, and we stood up for parents against the woke mob,” he said during his speech, adding: “Let kids be kids!”

The Orlando Sentinel pointed out how low children’s reading levels are.

“He boasted about his efforts to strip ‘woke ideology’ from public schools and universities and bragged about ‘protecting’ children, but didn’t mention that nearly two-thirds of fourth graders are not proficient in reading,” the editorial boards wrote.

However, this is a nation-wide statistic. According to the National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP), only 33 percent of fourth graders performed at or above the NAEP Proficient level on the reading assessment in 2022.

DeSantis didn’t only boast about Florida’s accomplishments during his address, but on the debate stage in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday night with political rival Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and ex-United Nations ambassador.

The two are gunning for each other, repeatedly calling the other one a liar during the debate, meanwhile, former President Donald Trump remains the GOP front-runner with a massive lead over his opponents in the polls.

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