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Florida is where “woke goes to die,” Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declared during his swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.
Standing in front of the Florida Capitol in Tallahassee before a crowd of thousands, DeSantis proclaimed that the Sunshine State will continue to defy the woke indoctrination movement infecting schools across the U.S.
“They have harmed education by subordinating the interests of students and parents to partisan interest groups,” DeSantis said of the radical left ideologues.
DeSantis, speaking at his inauguration: "We reject this woke ideology. We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy. We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die!" pic.twitter.com/YiylSbblVs
— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) January 3, 2023
They have imposed medical authoritarianism in the guise of pandemic mandates and restrictions that lack a scientific basis. This bizarre but prevalent ideology that permeates these policy measures purports to act in the name of justice for the marginalized, but it frowns upon American institutions and rejects merit and achievement and advocates identity essentialism.
“We reject this woke ideology. We seek normalcy, not philosophical lunacy. We will not allow reality, facts, and truth to become optional. We will never surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die,” the governor said to applause.
DeSantis went on to say that Florida has shown the rest of the country that hope is not lost and that “decline is a choice.”
“The results of this have been predictably dismal, it causes many to be pessimistic about the country’s future. Some even say that failure is inevitable. Florida is proof positive that we the people are not destined for failure. Decline is a choice,” DeSantis said.
“Success is attainable. And freedom is worth fighting for,” he added, describing Florida as “freedom’s linchpin” and a “refuge of sanity, a citadel of freedom for our fellow Americans and even for people around the world.”
Watch DeSantis’ second inaugural address in full: