NBC’s Kristen Welker presses DeSantis over initial response to neo-Nazi protests

NBC “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker pressed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) over reports of him not condemning neo-Nazi protests, which came to light in a recent op-ed by Randy Fine, the only Jewish Republican in the Florida state Legislature.

DeSantis, who has been vocal in his support of Israel’s right to defend itself against the militant group Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack, came under fire from Fine, who said the governor was not strongly fighting against antisemitism in the Sunshine State and switched his endorsement to former President Trump.

In his op-ed, Fine wrote, “18 months ago, my Nazi ‘friends’ showed up in Florida. They assaulted a Rabbi. They beat up a Jew who yelled back at one of their protests … They commandeered highway overpasses to illegally hang banners saying ‘Gas the Jews.’ They have tormented Jews at their homes with filth. Until a few weeks ago, Governor DeSantis said almost nothing. And worse, he did almost nothing.”

Asked by Welker for his response to Fine’s accusations, DeSantis, who is also running in the Republican presidential primary, said, ‘Well, he’s just trying to get his 15 minutes of fame. I mean, this guy was singing my praises a couple months ago.”

“He’s got his different reasons why he’s doing that,” DeSantis continued. “We have acted very, very swiftly and decisively. I mean, for example, after this attack, we dispatched state law enforcement working in conjunction with locals to protect our Jewish institutions: our Jewish day schools, our synagogues. There have been arrests that have been made with people that were threatening to do harm to our Jewish community.”

DeSantis claimed Florida has “some of the strongest laws on the books,” with probably the highest migration rate among Jewish residents, and “second-highest Israeli American population in the entire country.”

“So, people vote with their feet. They see the type of environment we’ve created here that’s been very strong and positive. And name me, Kirsten, another governor who scrambled planes to Israel to bring them back,” DeSantis said, in reference to the flights of nearly 300 Americans he had flown from Israel to Florida earlier this month.

Welker interjected, “Governor, let me ask you, though, because, as you know, words also matter. You are the governor. You are a presidential candidate. Your state has heard from both [Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)] and [Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.)] condemning those neo-Nazi protests. Why didn’t you speak out? Why didn’t you use your voice to say that you’re not going to stand for that?”

“Of course we condemn that. I mean, you just look at everything that we’ve done in terms of our policies —” DeSantis shot back.

Welker again interjected, “But you didn’t at the time, governor.”

DeSantis then said, “I don’t think you could have —” before Welker interrupted, “You didn’t at the time, according to Randy Fine. According to Randy Fine, you did not at the time time.”

“Well, right. And he’s just trying to create a name for himself, so that’s all nonsense. Everybody knows that’s nonsense. And don’t give somebody 15 minutes of fame just because they’re letting you try to do a preferred narrative just to hit me,” DeSantis said. “It’s nonsense. Our record is second to none, and we’ll continue to lead on these issues.”