DeSantis aide deletes tweet suggesting Nazi protesters were Democratic operatives

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis’ press secretary is facing massive backlash after she sent tweets Sunday night questioning whether pro-Nazi demonstrations in Orlando over the weekend were organized by Democratic staffers.

Her comments drew widespread condemnation from elected officials as well as a prominent South Florida rabbi who called the tweets from Christina Pushaw “reprehensible.”

In the now-deleted tweet, Pushaw suggested that a group of about 20 protesters who were seen wearing Nazi symbols and shouting anti-Semitic slurs Saturday afternoon could be political opponents of DeSantis trying to frame the governor in a bad light. Her tweet was a reference to several people organized by the anti-Donald Trump Republican group the Lincoln Project who posed with tiki torches during last year’s Virginia governor’s race in an attempt to smear Glenn Youngkin, who at the time was running for governor.

“Do we even know if they are Nazis?” Pushaw tweeted. “Or is this a student like the ‘white nationalists’ who crashed the Youngkin rally in Charlottesville pretending to be Dem staffers?”

This isn’t the first time Pushaw drew criticism for posting controversial tweets. In November, Pushaw was critical of the Republic of Georgia, a country where she previously served as a political consultant, for requiring vaccine passes for people in that country to enter places like restaurants. In doing so, she implied that the Rothschilds were behind the decision because Georgia’s prime minister met with a member of the family during the same time period. She later issued an apology.

After facing swift blowback on Twitter, Pushaw Sunday night followed up her initial Tweet with another post admitting that she did not know who staged the Orlando protest and stressed that Nazi symbolism and hate speech are wrong.

Rabbi Jeffrey Salkin, of Temple Israel in Palm Beach and a columnist for Religion News Service, said DeSantis must condemn the comments from his own press staffer. Florida is home to one of the largest populations of Jews in the U.S.

“The very idea that the governor’s press representative suggesting such Neo-Nazis were fake is reprehensible,” he told POLITICO. “This is the time for the public to be aware of the dangers of anti-Semitic extremism and not to traffic in the denial of that extremism.”

DeSantis on Monday also took shots at Democrats, saying that the incident was simply an attempt to damage him politically.

“Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to smear me as if I had something to do with it,” he said during a press conference in Palm Beach County. “We're not playing their game.”

He built a reputation during his three-terms in Congress as being staunchly pro-Israel, and during his 2018 campaign promised to be the “most pro-Israel Governor in America.”

Politicians of both political parties denounced the Nazi protest in Orlando. Republican Sen. Rick Scott called the incidents “hateful and anti-Semitic.” Republican Speaker of the Florida House Chris Sprowls called the protests a “disgusting display of anti-semitism.” Democratic Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said “Anti-semitism and hatred are not welcome in this community.” Democratic Rep. Val Demings, who is running against Sen. Marco Rubio, said America had beat their “disturbing ideology before.”

Despite originally questioning whether they were Nazis, Pushaw tweeted on Monday morning that the Florida Highway Patrol “stated” that those who “hung swastikas on the overpass will be prosecuted.” One of the banners hung on the overpass stated “Let’s go Branon [sic],” a reference to the GOP rallying cry against President Joe Biden.

The highway patrol noted over the weekend on its official Twitter accountthat it disbanded what it called an “anti-Semitic gathering” on an Interstate 4 overpass, noting it is illegal to “obstruct highway traffic or hang signs on the overpass and violators will be prosecuted.” The agency did not return a request Monday morning for a comment about the incident.

“It is against the law to obstruct highway traffic or hang signs on the overpasses and violators will be prosecuted,” it added.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office confirmed the protest took place Saturday and that a fight broke out between demonstrators and a passerby.

“The group, assembled on public property, was reported by witnesses to be wearing clothing with ‘Nazi’ insignia and yelling profanities and anti-Semitic slurs at vehicles passing by,” read a statement for Orange County Sheriff’s Office.

Salkin said that condemnations and law enforcement breaking up the demonstration are not enough, and DeSantis needs to make a public statement about his press secretary’s comments.

“When you consider that South Florida has the third largest Jewish population in the country, and one of [the] most significant Jewish populations in the world, such silence on his part tantamount to agreement,” he said.

Yet Pushaw on Monday morning continued to post on social media about the incident, tweeting: “So - If the governor himself does not issue a public statement of specific condemnation of whoever this group is, within a time period that the Left deems acceptable, he is smeared as a Nazi sympathizer by default?”

Bruce Ritchie contributed to this report.