Democratic strategist slams Ron DeSantis after he called MAGA supporters ‘listless vessels’

Strategist Ameshia Cross said the Florida governor, a GOP presidential hopeful, “can’t call someone ‘listless’ when you yourself are pushing an anti-equity agenda.”

Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross slammed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis amid his “listless vessel” comment and believes the GOP presidential hopeful has blown his chance at the nomination.

Cross’ comments come after DeSantis, during an interview on Fox News, called Trump supporters “listless vessels” more interested in loyalty to the former president than adhering to conservative principles.  

“It’s interesting because they’re all singing from the same songbook because you can’t call someone ‘listless’ when you yourself are pushing an anti-equity agenda,” Cross told theGrio. 

She noted that DeSantis has pushed for “laws and policies that greatly affect the progress of not only Blacks, Latinos and undocumented people in the protections that they deserve, but also schoolchildren.”

DeSantis has championed what he calls an “anti-woke” agenda that opponents criticize as an attempt to erase or diminish Black history or achievements. In Florida, his administration approved teaching students that Black people benefited from slavery by learning skills that helped them later in life. He suspended a Black prosecutor, a move his critics decried as “racist,” and he signed a bill making it harder to discuss race in the classroom.

The “listless vessels” remarks angered members of the MAGA crowd, which prompted Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary to double down on the governor’s statements.

His account posted a tweet that read, “The dishonest media refuses to report the facts – Donald Trump and some congressional endorsers are ‘listless vessels.’”

Griffin continued, “Why? Because Trump and DC insiders feel he is entitled to your vote. @RonDeSantis believes your trust should be earned and has the vision, plan, and record to beat Joe Biden and reverse the decline of our country.”

According to the FiveThirtyEight polling average, Trump holds a wide lead over all his primary challengers, with 52% of the vote. Cross believes DeSantis has already lost his chance at becoming the GOP presidential nominee.

“This is a man who is losing his grip on the Republican primary very quickly and is trying to do anything he can to shape it into something that [voters] will actually support,” she said.

“Ron DeSantis came in with the biggest bang of anyone who would announce that they were going to run. He had a lot of momentum in the beginning and he lost it almost immediately,” she added. 

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