WHERE IN GUILT-FREE Florida we're often asked if Ron DeSantis is really worse than Donald Trump. Not long ago the question would have seemed ludicrous because Trump had set the bar of execrable behavior so high. Who could outpander the most prolific panderer of all time? Who could be worse for democracy than the person who snuggled up to murderous dictators, spoke fondly of white supremacists, smeared Mexican immigrants as rapists and killers, tried to overturn an election, and incited a goon siege of the Capitol? The list goes on.
Technically, the ex-president isn't a true Florida man; he's just another rich tax refugee. DeSantis is a native, one of our own, and he has proven himself to be just as thin-skinned, soulless, and vengeful as Trump. Betraying his political godfather to seek the Republican presidential nomination demanded more of DeSantis than casual disloyalty; he needed a metaphorical crowbar to pry his perpetually pinched lips from Trump's ass.
From then on, his strategy was to slither past Trump on the right. As governor he has delightedly signed new laws targeting the LGBTQ+ community, abortion rights, gun restrictions, voting liberties, conversations about the history of racism, and from his boundless well of spite, Disney. All that, plusaccording to a campaign video-a personal endorsement from God, and still DeSantis is polling a drab, distant second to Trump.
Clearly the governor isn't getting credit for being as awful as he is. Have people already forgotten that his midpandemic reversal on COVID vaccines killed off untold numbers of Floridians who'd naively looked to him for guidance? It takes the icy soul of a fentanyl dealer to factor customer mortality into your own marketing plan.
Although critics say DeSantis is Trump Lite, the two differ sharply.
Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av Vanity Fair US.
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Denne historien er fra October 2023-utgaven av Vanity Fair US.
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Cinema VERITÉ
At Art Basel Paris, Miu Miu reaffirms its support of women in film
A KILLER VIEW
When an heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune noticed that a grove of majestic oaks on her coastal Maine property had died, she cast her suspicions on her neighbors uphill, summer residents who wanted a better view of Camden Harbor. The legal fight that ensued became a town drama that roils to this day
ATLAS SHRUGGED
A brawny bodybuilder with a generous side: atypical Wall Street sage. But as CIO of Scott Minerd was an Guggenheim Partners, he oversaw billions for the firm and made millions for himself to him and His sudden death shocked spurred infighting over his $400 million estate even those closest
Red Hot
There's no one in Hollywood-or anywhere else, probably-like NATASHA LYONNE. Her wry, wrenching work in Poker Face, His Three Daughters, and Russian Doll has brought an indie favorite into the spotlight
The Maly Poppins of Mulholland Drive
When I was nine, Lara Flynn Boyle was my father's sweetheart- and my best friend
THE SQUATTER OF POINT DUME
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Girls, INTERRUPTED
Nestled in the Berkshires, with a pedigree dating back to 1898, MISS HALL'S SCHOOL appears to be a cocoon of safety and formative tutelage for its students, all of them young women. But for decades, an alleged sexual predator operated on campus. Now alumnae are speaking out in hopes of holding their former teacher-and the school-accountable
Coming HOMME
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The Californians
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Behind THE PODIUM
As President Biden's barrier-breaking press secretary leaves the White House, she considers the ups and downs of being a first
