DeSantis Debunked: Shocking Little-Known Facts About the Controversial Florida Governor's Past
May 7 2023, Published 6:00 a.m. ET
There's more than what meets the eye with controversial Florida Governor Ron DeSantis as RadarOnline.com can reveal that the Republican lawmaker has a shocking past.
While the governor's political opponent Donald Trump seized the opportunity to expose DeSantis' odd preference towards eating pudding with his fingers, DeSantis continues to surprise voters.
The same former congressional colleagues, who outed DeSantis' strange eating habits, also claimed that the Yale graduate was a socially awkward "loner" who kept to himself.
Adding to DeSantis' eyebrow-raising past was his stint as a young Navy lawyer at Guantanamo Bay. The governor often dodged reporters when asked about his time working for the notorious prison camp.
When DeSantis served as a judge advocate general (JAG) at Guantanamo Bay, his job was ensuring that military personnel and prison guards followed the law.
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As a JAG, DeSantis was tasked with investigating the gruesome death of three prisoners. They were discovered hanging in their cells, bound at the feet and hands, with their mouths gagged. Despite the state that the prisoners were found in, then-Naval officer Harry Harris claimed the prisoners killed themselves.
DeSantis upheld Harris' suicide theory and the investigation concluded after only 11 days, leaving the deaths a mystery to this day.
Additionally, DeSantis was accused by a former Guantanamo prisoner of overseeing guards barbarically force-feeding him during a hunger strike in 2006, which the governor denied.
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A year before he was elected governor in 2019, DeSantis came under fire for a Facebook group he was an administrator of. DeSantis was exposed as a member of The Tea Party Facebook page.
DeSantis attempted to distance himself from the page. On the campaign trail, he alleged he was added to the group without his consent, and he removed himself from the group.
Making matters worse for DeSantis was that it was not the first time during his campaign for governor that he was accused of being racist.
In August 2018, DeSantis appeared on Fox News to discuss his campaign against Democrat Andrew Gillum. He warned Florida voters to not "monkey this up."
Florida Democrats accused the future governor of using a racist dog whistle against Gillum, a Black man. The DeSantis campaign responded to allegations but failed to provide any apology.
"Ron DeSantis was obviously talking about Florida not making the wrong decision to embrace the socialist policies that Andrew Gillum espouses. To characterize it as anything else is absurd," said Stephen Lawson, then-communications director for the DeSantis campaign.