Florida Governor Ron DeSantis — extensively seen as a high challenger to former United States President Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential ambitions — has laid out a right-wing imaginative and prescient for the nation in a intently watched speech.

DeSantis delivered his State of the State deal with on Tuesday to legislators within the Florida capital of Tallahassee. In it, he offered himself as a substitute for Trump, who has confronted questions of electability since his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Whereas the Yale- and Harvard-educated DeSantis has not but formally introduced his presidential ambitions, his speech hinted at a nationwide platform premised on the right-wing points he has championed in Florida.

These embody an aggressive stance in opposition to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions and tradition battle points, together with laws aimed toward gender, race and sexuality training.

“We defied the specialists. We bucked the elites. We ignored the chatter. We did it our means, the Florida means,” DeSantis instructed state legislators in Tallahassee. “And the result’s that we’re the primary vacation spot for our fellow People who’re searching for a greater life.”

DeSantis additionally ran by way of what he known as his response to extreme liberal “wokeness”.

Tuesday’s speech kicked off a 60-day legislative session buoyed by a Republican supermajority that’s extensively anticipated to be a showcase of DeSantis’s coverage priorities.

Beneath DeSantis, state legislators are searching for to increase a controversial ban on classroom discussions of sexuality and gender identification — at present in impact by way of third grade — to eighth-grade kids, usually 12 or 13 years outdated. Critics have dubbed the ban the “Don’t Say Homosexual” invoice.

DeSantis has additionally signed a invoice that stops educators from instructing sure facets of race training in public faculties.

Beneath his management, the state legislature is additionally searching for to develop gun rights, curb range efforts at state-run universities, finish the “medical authoritarianism” of COVID-19 vaccine mandates and additional lengthen abortion restrictions.

Critics have accused DeSantis of specializing in polarising points to gloss over the rising value of dwelling, distressed property insurance coverage market and local weather change threats confronted by many state residents.

“Now will not be the time to relaxation on our laurels,” DeSantis instructed legislators. “Now we have the chance and certainly the duty to swing for the fences in order that we are able to guarantee Florida stays primary.”

“Don’t fear concerning the chattering class, ignore all of the background noise, maintain the compass set to true north,” he added. “We are going to maintain the road, we received’t again down. And I can promise you this: You ain’t seen nothing but.”

DeSantis has beforehand pointed to his agenda in Florida as a mannequin for the remainder of the nation. In his lately launched e book, The Braveness to Be Free, the subtitle encapsulates that view: “Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Revival”.

Presumptive presidential bid

DeSantis is taken into account unlikely to formally announce a presidential marketing campaign earlier than the legislature wraps up its work in Might. Up to now, solely Trump and his former ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, have introduced their bids for the Republican nomination.

Nonetheless, DeSantis appears to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run. He participated in a high-profile donor retreat final week in Florida after which left for California, the place he delivered a broadside in opposition to what he argued have been the excesses of liberalism.

Later this week, he’ll journey for the primary time this 12 months to Iowa, which can host the nation’s first Republican presidential caucus in 2024.

At latest talking engagements, DeSantis has flaunted his November reelection victory, during which he beat his Democratic opponent by a whopping 1.5 million votes, the most important margin a Republican governor has ever received within the state.

In his speech on Tuesday, he known as the win a “vindication” and a mandate, telling legislators: “Boldness be our good friend on this endeavour, we now have lots we have to accomplish.”

Opponents have cautioned in opposition to Republican legislators wielding a rubber stamp for a politician they see as on the trail to larger workplace.

The Democratic chief of Florida’s Home of Representatives, Fentrice Driskell, stated she had by no means seen a governor possess a lot affect in state lawmaking.

“All of this being pushed by his ambition. I believe there are these in management who need to be near this governor as a result of they view him as rising in energy,” she stated.

“However the individuals who pay the fee and the brunt of all of that is on a regular basis Floridians. Each one of many governor’s tradition wars has an financial value constructed into it. Each single one in every of them,” she stated.