“The View” co-host Alyssa Farah Griffin disputed her fellow co-hosts’ shots at Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, arguing many of his policies are popular with voters.
Griffin adamantly said that DeSantis will win his re-election bid against Democratic Florida gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist given his consistent lead in the polls. She named the governor’s education and immigration policies as being popular among the people of Florida.
“I do think Florida is maybe where Democrats are misreading the political mood more than anywhere,” Griffin said. “Ron DeSantis has consistently performed 10 points up over Charlie Crist even on the issue — which I’ve spoken out again, I hated the flying migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, I thought that was ridiculous theater — 50% of Hispanic voters in the state of Florida supported that action. By and large, Florida is the state that most people are flocking to four times more than any other state so you can call him ‘Death-Santis,’ you can call him whatever you’d like, he’s gonna win the state of Florida.”
Co-host Whoopi Goldberg pushed back saying no one can assume which candidate will win the Nov. 8 election. Griffin added that DeSantis’ appeal comes from his push to reopen in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I know many voters who have said ‘I will never vote for a politician who kept kids out of the classroom,” she said. “We’ve seen the stats now about how much it’s put our kids behind for losing nearly a year of education.” (RELATED: Sunny Hostin Reveals What She ‘Admired’ About DeSantis During Biden’s Visit)
Goldberg argued that those who handled COVID correctly “saved” the lives of the children. Co-host Joy Behar asked what would have been the big deal if all of the kids were held back one school year during the lockdowns. Griffin said school choice organizations lobbied for hybrid education, alternate in-person learning and gave homeschool parents the resources the students needed.
As DeSantis pushed for reopening schools, Crist’s running mate, Karla Hernandez-Mats, advocated for school closures and criticized the government and former President Donald Trump for supporting in-person learning. She later accused DeSantis of ignoring the virus’ risks after he lifted restrictions on federally funded youth programs and activities in May, 2020.
A poll conducted by the Florida Atlantic University Business and Economics Polling Initiative found DeSantis leading Crist by 11 points and garnering strong approval ratings. The poll surveyed 719 Floridians between October 12-16 with a 3.65% margin of error.