It’s April Fools’ Day, but the following song is, sadly, not a joke. Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has just earned a new country single that, among other things, shows the right-wing politician taking a hardline stance against COVID-19 measures while palling around with a bunch of white dude musicians.
Earlier today, Fox & Friends aired a segment on a brand new song by Van Zant called “Sweet Florida,” according to a new blog post by Media Matters. To cheers and excitement, Fox’s Steve Doocy praised the country tune for “highlighting the leadership” of DeSantis as he goes about his “efforts to keep Florida free.”
These efforts apparently include “taking on the swamp,” sticking it to Biden on COVID-19, and, most baffling of all, “calling out Dr. Fauci.”
Yes, the song’s official music video even has a chevron mid-single reading “Breaking News: DeSantis Calls Out Dr. Fauci.”
“Sweet Florida” comes complete with anti-lockdown lyrics too, for some classic Republican pandemic fearmongering.
“Well, we ain’t been locked down we still have our freedom. / We can still see our friends and family,” the song proudly declares. “Our kids in school and we can go to church on Sunday. / And all it’s because DeSantis knows how to lead.”
The song is an official Ron DeSantis joint, by the way — the homepage for the single notes that it’s “Paid by Ron DeSantis, Republican, for Governor.” The top of the page also reads “Sweet Florida: GRD x Van Zant,” which sounds like the worst possible collab in music history.
DeSantis proceeded to go on Fox & Friends for a softball interview where he railed against Disney for vowing to go against the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” law. To big surprise, the governor said the corporation was “trying to impose a woke ideology on our state,” which he declared a “significant threat.”
“This wokeness will destroy this country if we let it run unabated,” DeSantis said on Fox. “So in Florida, we take a very big stand against that.”
As for the rest of us, DeSantis’ musical tastes pose a major threat to basic artistic decency. So consider the antagonism mutual.
(Image: Ron DeSantis)
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