Dave Rubin's Case for DeSantis

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said last week that he wants to lead a "great American comeback" while announcing his run for president of the United States of America on the Republican ticket. He called for tougher border controls, a crackdown on crime, and a war on "wokeness."

DeSantis might have strong appeal to conservative voters, but how should libertarians evaluate the two-term governor who made a name for himself first by flouting the federal government's COVID policy recommendations and later by picking fights with Disney World and declaring Florida the state where "woke goes to die"? Would a DeSantis presidency be any better for liberty than a Joe Biden or Donald Trump one?

"Everything is working here [in Florida]," said Dave Rubin, host of The Rubin Report, in an interview on Fox Business last week explaining his support for DeSantis.

Rubin, a self-described classical liberal who moved his business and home from Los Angeles to Miami in 2021, will join Reason's Nick Gillespie and Zach Weissmueller this Thursday at 1:25 p.m. Eastern to discuss the DeSantis candidacy, what the bitter Trump-DeSantis rivalry says about the state of the GOP, and the policies DeSantis has implemented in Florida to better understand what his agenda for the country might be and weigh the implications for liberty in America.

Watch and leave questions and comments on the YouTube video above or on Reason's Facebook page.

Show notes:

• U.S. Census Bureau: Florida Fastest-Growing State for First Time Since 1957
• Age-adjusted COVID mortality by state as of May 2023
• Reason's C.J. Ciaramella on the FIRST STEP Act
• Reason's Jacob Sullum: Ron DeSantis Dangerously Blurs the Distinction Between State and Private Action
• Tampa Bay Times: Crime is Down, But the Full Picture is Muddled
• FBI Uniform Crime Report by state

• Producer: Bess Byers