(UnitedVoice.com) – Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) is having a rough time in the Republican presidential primaries. He’s trailing former President Donald Trump by double digits. Recently, he made a violent remark about the so-called deep state.
During a campaign stop in Rye, New Hampshire, at the end of July, DeSantis talked about the federal government, saying it has “all these deep state people” and he will “start slitting throats on day one” if he’s elected president. The remarks outraged unions representing career federal employees.
The American Federation of Government Employees national president, Everett Kelley, released a scathing statement calling the threat to slit the throats of federal employees “dangerous, disgusting, disgraceful, and disqualifying.” He mentioned that the federal workers, of which one-third are veterans, “have dedicated their lives to serving” the American people. Further, Kelley pointed to the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing as proof that violent rhetoric can have “deadly consequences.” The union president, who represents about 750,000 federal workers, called on DeSantis to retract his statement, saying federal workers should never face death threats.
Ron DeSantis must retract his threat to ‘start slitting throats’ of federal employees if he's elected president.
No federal employee should face death threats from anyone, least of all from someone seeking to lead the U.S. government.
Full statement from @AFGEPrezKelley: pic.twitter.com/omEbzj4zkN
— AFGE (@AFGENational) August 3, 2023
Brian L. Renfroe, the president of the National Association of Letter Carriers, also issued a statement calling DeSantis’ remarks a “violent threat against federal employees” that was “appalling, shocking, [and] disturbing.” He said that while comments like that are always wrong, they came at a time when mail carriers are facing increased threats by “violent criminals.”
Tony Reardon, the national president of the National Treasury Employees Union, said the candidate’s remarks were “repulsive and unworthy of the presidential campaign trail.”
On August 4, The New York Times released a new poll showing DeSantis trailing Trump by 24%. FiveThirtyEight’s polling average as of August 3 has the Florida governor at 14.3% while the former president has 53.3%. DeSantis’ campaign is currently going through a reset in an attempt to better position himself to try to take the lead.
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