There’s no shame in shopping in Walmart, Mrs. DeSantis. But about your husband’s spending . . . | Opinion
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Tis’ the season for gratitude, but Florida first lady Casey DeSantis is bummed about having to shop at Walmart for her growing brood of three.
During a Sunday campaign event in Charles City, Iowa, she blamed President Biden for her Walmart habit, the online news site Florida Politics reports.
“Guilty as charged. I shop at Walmart,” said Casey, who married Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2009 at Disney World, where “fairy tale” weddings start at $15,000.
“Thank you Bidenomics, OK?”
She wasn’t then — and isn’t now — a broke Cinderella.
A broadcast journalist when she met DeSantis, she worked at the better-paid end of journalism. She now lives, for free, in a mansion, travels first class on other people’s dime (mostly from donors and taxpayers). She certainly didn’t think herself poor when she channeled millionaire fashion icon Jackie O during DeSantis’ last inauguration.
Plus, DeSantis’ lucrative book deal that launched his presidential campaign made the governor a millionaire last year, reported Forbes, estimating his net worth to be $1.5 million.
But here’s Casey DeSantis trying to convince Iowa housewives that her husband is better able to beat Biden than wealthy GOP favorite Donald Trump because she’s just your regular mom struggling to dress Mason, Madison and Mamie.
“Everything is so darn expensive, and my children grow up so fast that I need $2 T-shirts. OK?” she said.
Amateur hour
This is what’s called the amateur hour on the presidential campaign trail.
Casey DeSantis’ rant was a hollow cheap shot that doesn’t move the needle one bit. But her words do open the door to discussion of her husband’s larger shortcomings.
What has her husband done to make things better for Florida parents who need a break?
Because when people really needed unemployment benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic and the state unemployment site left by former Gov. Rick Scott collapsed, DeSantis was slow to look into the issue.
The governor was collecting his paycheck. But hundreds of thousands of Floridians were being laid off and furloughed. They weren’t worried about the price of T-shirts. They were begging for enough money to afford food and shelter.
But even after being approved, the jobless couldn’t collect from DeSantis’ unemployment office.
But there’s no need to go that far back. This year, DeSantis thought nothing of spending $15 million in taxpayer money to fund political stunts to build a presidential profile that depicted him as the toughest candidate on immigration.
He helped himself to the state’s healthy surplus.
Meanwhile, DeSantis failed to do anything to stem inflation in the state driven by housing costs. Nor did he provide Florida homeowners any relief from the soaring costs and deductibles of property insurance.
While nationwide rates have dropped, Florida is No. 1 in inflation, with living costs rising at more than twice the national average.
While DeSantis giddily used millions on high-profile migrant flights from Texas to blue states, he vetoed $18 million in South Florida projects to improve public safety and public parks, fund law enforcement and improve infrastructure and drainage to better control flooding.
And Casey DeSantis, like her husband trying hard to be likable — and failing — whines about shopping at Walmart.
About that T-shirt
I shop for kids — and unless the first lady is getting a special gubernatorial bulk rate — I couldn’t find many $2 T-shirts at Walmart or anywhere else. Even with Black Friday right around the corner, it was tough to score that cheap a T-shirt.
That’s a price not seen since 2013, when Scott was governor and Forbes wrote about the T-shirt’s 100th birthday. A men’s Hanes✓ cost $2.13.
I volunteer to give her a few pointers about where to find good deals.
The Children’s Place, for example, has a cool black graphic tee that says “BRO” in white block letters for $4.60, on sale using the code BLKFRIL60. You can spin the discount wheel online, give them your email address, for additional savings.
I spun 30% off, but try as I might to collect — and match the $2 Casey DeSantis challenge — the extra discount wasn’t accepted at checkout.
Real bargain hunters will try and try until it happens, but something tells me, that would be too much of a strain for the first lady — and the T-shirt is probably too “woke” for her, anyway.
Too bad her husband burned his bridge to the Happiest Place on Earth for political thrills. The Walt Disney people are the kind who might feel moved by her plight.
Maybe the public-relations team can create some Disney magic and send the littlest DeSantises free “I [HEART] Mickey” T-shirts.
