DeSantis touts sacking of state attorney while stumping in Iowa

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) showed he was proud of suspending Orlando state attorney Monique Worrell this week after he said she couldn’t fulfill the duties of the position.

At a presidential campaign stop in Iowa Thursday, DeSantis said Worrell was suspended because she refused to prosecute certain crimes. He blamed environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) policy — a corporate ethics theory that has become a political punching bag for conservatives.

“When [ESG] overtakes criminal justice, you see these prosecutors who say they’re not going to prosecute people, they’re not going to hold them accountable in places like Los Angeles and Chicago, and communities end up less safe as a result of that,” DeSantis said at the event.

“In Florida, we just acted. We had a prosecutor in Orlando, she wouldn’t prosecute cases. She’s putting people back on the street,” he added. “So I removed her from her post! I’m not going to just sit there and take that.”

Worrell was suspended from her position Wednesday, sparking widespread criticism from Democrats in the state. Worrell, a Democrat elected in 2020, is a criminal justice reform advocate. 

“If we are mourning anything this morning, it is the loss of democracy,” Worrell said Wednesday. “I am your duly elected state attorney for the 9th Judicial Circuit, and nothing done by a weak dictator can change that.”

Worrell and others claimed the move was political retaliation and fueled by the governor’s run for president.

DeSantis is in the Hawkeye State for the Iowa State Fair this weekend where he will appear Saturday.