Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis trashed France on Wednesday, saying Paris would “probably” put up no resistance if Russia ever invaded.
“A lot of other places around the world, they just fold the minute there’s any type of adversity,” DeSantis asked, according to a report in the Florida Politics web site. “If (Putin) went into France, do you think they’d do anything to put up a fight? Probably not.”
Without offering any evidence for the jibe, the Sunshine State leader sought to frame his attack on France as a tribute to the strength of Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion.
“I think it’s going to be like death by 1,000 cuts,” DeSantis said of the invasion, which has run into unexpectedly stiff sledding. “I think Putin has miscalculated.”
A spokeswoman for DeSantis repeated the attack on France, noting that France continued selling weapons to Russia after the 2014 takeover of Crimea.
“He’s not wrong,” said Christina Pushaw, the spokeswoman.
The move came as DeSantis continued to resist taking any actions to punish Putin.
He has resisted calls from Democrats and Republicans alike for the state to divest itself of investments in Russian companies and says it wouldn’t be the state’s job to seize plush Miami properties owned by Russian oligarchs who are cronies of Putin.
DeSantis has even refused to call for boycotts or bans on sales of Russian-made alcohol products, breaking ranks with fellow GOP governors who have done so.
“Products that are currently on store shelves were already imported and purchased, so throwing them out at this point would be a loss for Florida retailers, not for Vladimir Putin,” Pushaw told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
Not everyone agrees.
The giant Florida-based supermarket chain Publix announced Wednesday it would remove all Russian vodka and other products from its shelves in stores across the southeast U.S.
“Publix stands with the people of Ukraine,” Publix spokeswoman Maria Brous told the Sun-Sentinel.
