Ron DeSantis 'Embraces His Meanness,' Says New York Times' Frank Bruni

While former President Donald Trump remains dead set on pitting himself against those who are running against him in the 2024 elections, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continues to fight against minority groups, most recently by releasing a campaign video attacking the LGBTQ+ community.

What Happened: While the governor has previously been criticized for his “dull coldness” (by a critic of his recent memoir) and Trump has opined that DeSantis “needs a Personality Transplant,” DeSantis appears to have decided to roll with the former and boast his “viciousness,” according to Frank Bruni of the New York Times.

“To read deeply and widely about DeSantis is to learn that his cruel politics match a cold personality, Bruni wrote, later adding, “He has resting disdain face.”

“The version of Ron DeSantis that we need to worry about is the one that he proudly shows us. He embraces his meanness. He luxuriates in his darkness. Let other politicians peddle the pablum of inspiration. He prefers to ooze the toxin of contempt,” the opinion writer said.

The video, which may have been intended to attack Trump but instead showed the former president as more inclusive than the governor, flashes the lines “DeSantis is evil” and the “the governor does not care,” across the screen.

“He casts himself as someone to fear rather than revere. That video actually flashes an image of Christian Bale in 'American Psycho' as a flattering DeSantis analogue," Bruni wrote.

What’s More: While DeSantis and his team may believe the video showed DeSantis as a “strong man,” it had “an undercurrent of homoerotic kink,” Bruni wrote.

“Up pops a shirtless hunk with a ripped chest. Here’s a glowering Brad Pitt in his 'Troy' drag. Are honchos with a Homer fetish some new thing? I need to get out more,” he said.

Despite the backlash, DeSantis defended the video during an interview on Wednesday with Tomi Lahren, stating that the intent was “identifying Donald Trump as really being a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream where he was having men compete against women in his beauty pageants,” according to ABC News.

It’s unclear if Trump, who has changed his stance on transgender rights since he last sat in the White House, will once again pivot to showing support for the minority group amid the fierce backlash DeSantis has faced for his disdain of the LGBTQ+ community.

While DeSantis has trailed Trump in opinion polls, it begs a question Bruni asked: “How does someone with that pitch possibly bring together and lead an entire diverse country, if he gets that chance, and what does it say about the United States today that he has come this far?”

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