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Casey DeSantis with her husband Ron on May 30, 2023.
USA – She’s already Florida’s first lady, but she’s aiming much higher. Casey DeSantis, wife of Sunshine State governor, presidential candidate Ron DeSantis, is campaigning for her husband, who dreams of reaching the White House in 2024. And her role is crucial.
This Thursday, July 6, the one who has often been seen with her husband, held her first solo rally as part of the presidential campaign to officially launch the group “Mamas for DeSantis” in Iowa. A strategic state: this is where the first Republican primary will take place on January 15, 2024.
In front of a hundred mothers with conservative beliefs, Casey DeSantis promised it “to launch the largest mobilization of mothers and grandmothers across the United States to protect the innocence of our children and protect the rights of parents”reports CNN, who attended the event.
Very conservative views
In parallel on her Twitter account, she developed her (very) conservative opinions in a video to promote “Mamas for DeSantis”. She criticizes both wearing masks for children, the former American “Mr. Covid” Anthony Fauci, the LGBT community or even trans identity: the key themes of the American right wing.
“When you attack our children, we defend ourselves because we will do everything to protect them. We will not remain silent. (…) And we finally found our fighter”she says in this clip in honor of her husband, to whom she provides unfailing support.
Because for this devout Christian, Ron DeSantis has “a gift from God” for politics. “I would move mountains to help him because he is a good man who does the right things”she assured in an interview with New York Post, completed a month after her husband signed a law banning abortion after six weeks in Florida.
But Casey DeSantis isn’t just there to play second fiddle. At 42, the former journalist in remission from breast cancer and mother of three children, aged 6, 5 and 3, is also present to shine her husband is often described as a cold man, not very empathetic and without charisma. .
Communications advisor
Born in 1980 in Ohio, this equestrian fan is educated in economics and French. She met Ron DeSantis on a golf course in 2006, a sport that she is passionate about and that she herself covered as a reporter. Three years later, the couple married at Disney World in Florida… the same theme park now targeted by the governor engaged in a crusade against the “woke culture” the entertainment giant is accused of promoting.
His electoral successes, the governor re-elected for a second term in 2022 would not have achieved them without Casey DeSantis. As the story goes New York Timesfrom Ron’s first campaign for US Congress in 2011, she traveled around Northeast Florida on her electric scooter to raise awareness.
Later, in 2018, she appeared in a clip that went viral in which her husband defends Trumpism — the former president was his mentor before he was his main opponent in the Republican primaries — and urges his children to “build the wall” at the Mexican border.
After Ron DeSantis was elected head of state, she became his senior communications advisor, an area in which she excelled. Just as present in the shadows as in the light, its place is so important that the media call it “of (not so) secret weapon”, “humanist-in-chief”, “co-governor”, or “X Factor”.
A familiar face, especially in Florida
Candidates’ wives are often present to be by their husband’s side and help them win more distant voters like Michelle Obama, Ann Romney and, to a lesser extent, Melania Trump, further remind New York Times. On the other hand, it is the first time that this support appears so early in the campaign.
It must be said that thanks to her previous profession, she is not only familiar with voters, but also recognized at least in her state of Florida. In previous election campaigns, “They went door to door and people recognized her. She was on TV here in Jacksonville and it made Ron laugh, ‘People think they might vote for Casey'”a former gubernatorial aide told Politico.
Moreover, since the beginning of the presidential campaign, it is not uncommon to see supporters asking for autographs and photos of Casey DeSantis. Evidence of her aura that might benefit her husband. In his book The courage to be free published in 2023, the governor of Florida seems to know what he owes his wife anyway. He writes: the meeting with her was “the greatest stroke of luck of my life”.
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