DeSantis Decries ‘Woke-Mind Virus’ in Speech to Ohio Republican Faithful

Plenty of applause, but audience keen on knowing if he is going to make a presidential run

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to a capacity crowd of 700 people at the Summit County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Breakfast on April 13, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

AKRON, Ohio—Almost 1,000 miles north of the Florida governor’s mansion he now calls home, Gov. Ron DeSantis is considered “a person that we can adopt here in Ohio as our own,” Bryan Williams, chair of the Summit County Republican Party, said.

As Williams introduced DeSantis as a guest speaker to a sold-out crowd of 700 people on April 13, he pointed out that the governor’s mother and wife both hail from the Buckeye State.

If DeSantis does decide to run for president, Ohio would be a coveted prize; no Republican has ever won the White House without carrying Ohio.

Gary Cates, a former Ohio lawmaker, attends the Summit County Republican Party's Lincoln Day Breakfast in Akron, Ohio, on April 13, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

As Gary Cates, a former state lawmaker, headed into the Akron event to hear DeSantis’s remarks, he told The Epoch Times: “Everyone’s wanting, at this point, to know whether he’s running.”

At this juncture, most people think there are only two candidates with a good shot of winning the Republican presidential nomination for the 2024 election—former President Donald Trump or the still-undeclared DeSantis.

“But technically, it’s an open race,” Cates said.

Trump won Ohio by 8 percentage points in 2020 but lost Summit County by a similar margin. Despite Trump’s Ohio win, Democrat President Joe Biden was declared the national winner, the first time since 1960 that a U.S. president won the White House without winning Ohio.

DeSantis, who has been on a tour promoting his recently released book—which some people criticize as a “shadow” presidential campaign—was expected to make at least two other Ohio appearances before leaving the state.

Democrats Focused on ‘Wrong Issues’

Addressing attendees who paid at least $100 per ticket for the local party’s 90th annual event celebrating President Abraham Lincoln, DeSantis focused on how Republican policies and values contrast with those of Democrats.

“This is ‘the woke-mind virus’ in action,” DeSantis said, describing attempts to indoctrinate children with leftist ideology, such as claims that America is an inherently racist nation.

His comments on several transgender-related topics drew enthusiastic applause.

“It is wrong to tell some 2nd-grade students that they may have been born in the wrong body,” he said.

DeSantis criticized leftists for being preoccupied with “letting boys use the girls’ bathroom” and allowing males to compete in female sports after they declare that they identify as transgender.

“They’re focused on the wrong issues,” he said.

After listening to DeSantis’s speech, Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan told The Epoch Times that she walked away with the main message: “It is our responsibility to restore America and stand up for our rights.”

She called the Republican gathering “a tremendous event that I feel will inspire everyone here to carry the torch.”

Hamilton County Common Pleas Judge Megan Shanahan attends the speech of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in Akron, Ohio, on April 13, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

Possible Future President?

Another attendee, former state representative candidate Kim Georgeton—who, like Shanahan, drove about three-and-a-half hours from the Cincinnati area—told The Epoch Times that she was thrilled with DeSantis’ speech.

“He’s on fire,” she said. “Gov. Ron DeSantis sets a great example to Republicans across the board. I’m impressed with his platform and how he has run the ‘free’ state of Florida.”

That’s why she bought a property in Florida, Georgeton said.

“All ‘red states’ can take a lesson from his playbook,” she said. “I appreciate how he prioritizes and upholds the Constitution.”

In advance of DeSantis’s speech at the University of Akron’s Quaker Station event center, former home of the Quaker Oats Co., Ohio resident Dave Whitman stood with an 8-by-10 photo of DeSantis.

Believing that DeSantis could be a future U.S. president, Whitman was hoping to add DeSantis’s signature to a trove of autographs that he has collected for 45 years.

“I feel he would be best for the country right now,” Whitman said in an interview with The Epoch Times.

“As much as I like Joe Biden, we need someone to turn the country around, and I don’t think Joe Biden can do that.”

Whitman thinks DeSantis is the best choice among potential Republican candidates, “and no Democrat is stepping up to the plate,” he said.

Whitman, however, was unable to snag DeSantis’s autograph. He intends to try again sometime.

Dave Whitman poses with a photo of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. He is hoping to get DeSantis to sign it at an event in Akron, Ohio, on April 13, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

Ohio, Florida Comparisons

Inside the venue, Alex Triantafilou, Ohio Republican Party chairman, scanned the crowd and said, “the turnout this morning is unbelievable.” Then he told DeSantis that the great attendance probably “has something to do with you.”

“The Republican Party, folks, is not inside a smoke-filled room in Columbus,” the state capital, Triantafilou said. Instead, it’s the people who came to hear DeSantis.

And, he said, “It’s people like Governor DeSantis, who went to Florida and said, ‘You know, I’m gonna do conservative things and be bold about it. That’s how you improve the lives of citizens.”

Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose said Ohio and Florida have something in common: They’re both states that know how to run fair and accurate elections.

And, he predicted, “Ohio is going to help this nation put a Republican in the White House.”

But he didn’t predict which Republican.

Not Captive to Polls

Trump and DeSantis are clearly the frontrunners for the Republican nomination. But national opinion polls are indicating that support for DeSantis is waning.

As of April 6, the RealClear Politics average showed 51.4 percent of voters would choose Trump while 24.7 percent favored DeSantis.

Trump’s popularity has increased in what seems to be a backlash against his historic indictment in a records-falsification case that many consider flimsy.

During his speech, DeSantis made no specific reference to those polls. But he repeated his belief that true leaders do not rely on polls to guide their actions.

“To this day, I have not taken a single poll on any issue,” DeSantis said.

He believes that it’s important to “get ahead of public opinion and don’t be captive to what these polls say.”

DeSantis considers that “being on the offense,” and says, “I don’t have time for drama.”

“Politics is not entertainment. Politics is not building a brand on social media. It’s not about useless virtue-signaling. It’s about delivering results,” DeSantis said, touting policies that he believes have made Florida a safer, better place.

He criticized politicians in other states who are still “clinging” to restrictive COVID-19 policies. “'Fifteen days to slow the spread’ [of the virus] turned into three years to infringe upon your freedom,” DeSantis said.

Ensuring Public Safety

DeSantis also described how during the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, “We did not allow our cities to be set ablaze” in Florida.

He denounced radical left-wing prosecutors, many of whom were backed by billionaire George Soros and “ignore laws they don’t like” and “let criminals run free.”

“We had one of those prosecutors ... I removed him from his post. He is gone,” DeSantis said, drawing applause as he referred to Andrew Warren, a former Hillsborough County state attorney.

DeSantis said such actions have resulted in Florida’s crime rate dipping to a 50-year low, “and we plan on keeping it that way.”

Extra police officers stand guard outside Quaker Station in advance of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis's speech in Akron, Ohio, on April 13, 2023. Janice Hisle/The Epoch Times

Ironically, as DeSantis spoke, Akron was on edge, with many people fearing that civil unrest could break out at any minute.

A special grand jury is in session—considering whether police should face criminal charges for fatally shooting a man last year.

After police chased him in cars and on foot, Jayland Walker, 25, was shot dozens of times by officers, NPR reported, adding that Walker fired a shot during the car pursuit, but was unarmed when he was killed

Organizers confirmed that extra police from the University of Akron and several other agencies were providing security for the DeSantis event.

Many downtown Akron businesses were boarded up to guard against people who might lash out if the grand jury declines to indict police.

Question Lingers

DeSantis said that the upcoming election is of utmost importance because “The winners get to make policy. The losers go home.”

“We must preserve what George Washington, the father of our country, called ‘the sacred fire of liberty,’” DeSantis said.

“In this crazy time that we live in, standing for the right thing is not cost-free,” he said.

DeSantis drew a standing ovation as he concluded: “As a former Navy man, I’m in this. And I’ve only begun to fight.”

But he still left hanging the question of whether the 46th governor of Florida would battle to become the 47th president of the United States.