MSNBC host Joy Reid raged at Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida Tuesday night after a ballot measure to loosen restrictions on abortion failed to pass.
Florida’s law restricting abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy remains in force after Amendment 4 failed to reach the 60% threshold to be adopted as an amendment to the Florida constitution. Reid called DeSantis’ campaigning against the ballot measure “openly fascist.”
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“He’s put everything on it, including threats, whatever it takes to try to make sure that that amendment fails using the power of government in a way that is, I would say, openly fascist and very determined,” Reid said. “Because, of course, this is something he wants to be his signature thing. It’s the thing he passed thinking that it would allow him to defeat Donald Trump and move to his right can and make him a national star and potentially the heir to Donald Trump in the party.”
DeSantis signed legislation restricting abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy, when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, in April 2023, months after Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022 after upholding a Mississippi law in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, returning the issue to the states to decide.
Abortion was a top issue for Democrats in the 2022 midterm elections following the high court’s decision. During those elections, Republicans underperformed expectations of a “red wave” nationally, although DeSantis defeated former Democratic Rep. Charlie Crist, who served as governor from 2007-2011 as a Republican, by over 19% in the Florida gubernatorial race.
Featured Image Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America
