Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended his wife Casey on Monday after left-leaning commentators dubbed her “American Karen” over the weekend.
“My wife is an incredibly strong first lady of Florida, a incredible mother and a beautiful wife, and that threatens the left.” – DeSantis, 44, he said Varney & Co. Fox Business Network
Over the weekend, MSNBC analyst David Jolly, a former Florida Republican congressman, dropped the epithet “Karen” on a breast cancer survivor and mother of three during an episode on the channel’s “Saturday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”
“Casey DeSantis is sort of a persuasive political figure in Florida and now nationwide. For a lot of, he’s the brighter side of an indignant Florida governor. For others, she became an American Karen,” Jolly said throughout the segment, eliciting giggles from other panelists.
The name “Karen” has been increasingly used lately as a slang term for a white woman who acts prickly and has the suitable.
![Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013861833.jpg?w=1024)
![Ron DeSantis with his wife Casey in New Hampshire last week](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013599618.jpg?w=1024)
Casey DeSantis launched the “Mamas for DeSantis” initiative in Iowa last week, debuting a recent enterprise with a fiery and difficult video that portrays her husband as a fighter.
Her message touched on most of the same issues her husband championed as governor, akin to parental rights within the classroom.
“She is an awesome advocate of families, an awesome advocate of kids. And I’m grateful she’s my wife,” Ron DeSantis said on Monday. “And I’m really honored that she’s willing to go on the market and push this through. That is why we wear the MSNBC critique as a badge of honor.”
![Ron DeSantis with his wife Casey in New Hampshire last week](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013589060.jpg?w=1024)
The 2024 Republican candidate has suggested that the attack on his wife stemmed from liberal fears that her message of parental empowerment would resonate with voters.
“She and I kind of take it flippantly because we realize it just shows they see her as a threat since the message she brought in Iowa about parental rights and that we’re not going to put up with it anymore because the left tries to indoctrinate our youngsters understand that this resonates not only with Republican parents, with Independent parents, and yes, with Democratic parents,” he continued.
The governor of Florida is widely considered Donald Trump’s fundamental rival within the 2024 GOP contest, but still trails him by 32.1 points within the rankings. latest Average RealClearPolitics.
![Ron DeSantis with his wife Casey in New Hampshire last week](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013676574-1.jpg?w=1024)
In the course of the same interview, DeSantis downplayed the gap within the polls, insisting that he was “the one targeted by the media” due to fears he might beat President Biden.
“I believe it’s pretty clear that the media doesn’t want me to be a candidate,” he said. “I believe they were trying to create a narrative that the race was over. It’s going to be an inter-state contest. We have worked really hard to construct the form of organization in places like Iowa, Latest Hampshire, and South Carolina that you simply need to actually win those early competitions. And we intend to proceed to achieve this. We’ve a whole lot of work to do, but we’ve received a really, very positive response and we intend to proceed to construct this momentum.”
![Ron DeSantis and wife Casey DeSantis arrive at a campaign event at Eternity Church on May 30, 2023 in Clive, Iowa.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000011970949.jpg?w=1024)