Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday suspended a progressive state attorney whom he accused of “ignoring the law” for refusing to enforce several recent conservative reforms.
“The state’s attorney for this judicial circuit, Andrew Warren, has publicly put himself above the law,” DeSantis said during a news conference on the prosecutor’s territory.
“In June 2021, he signed a letter saying he would not enforce any bans on sex-change operations for minors.”
DeSantis, who accused Warren of being funded by billionaire George Soros, also said that after the Supreme Court struck down abortion rights, Warren “signed a letter saying she would not enforce any laws related to the protection of the right to life in the state of Florida.”
Warren told the Tampa Bay Times in 2020 that she believes Soros donated money to her campaign.
Florida was one of the states that limited access to abortion amid the fallout from the overturning of Roe v. Wade, reducing the legal window to 15 weeks.
The governor rationalized the suspension by claiming he was removing a “pathogen” of activist prosecutors he blamed for rising crime rates in several Democratic-led cities.
“We’ve seen across this country, over the last few years, individual prosecutors taking it upon themselves to determine which laws they like and will enforce and which laws they don’t like,” DeSantis said.
Hillsborough County State’s Attorney Andrew Warren was suspended, effective immediately, by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday.
“We’re not going to allow this pathogen that’s been all over the country to ignore the law, we’re not going to allow it to get a foothold here in the state of Florida.”
DeSantis said he had ordered a statewide review of prosecutors to “make sure we weren’t going the San Francisco way” and found that Warren stood out alone.
“He was the only one who made this type of statement. He was the only one who signed his name to letters that basically said, “To hell with the people of Florida, I’ll do what I want.”
DeSantis was flanked by several Tampa Bay area police officers who told reporters that Warren’s progressive politics have made their jobs more difficult.
Warren became the Hillsborough County state’s attorney after defeating the office’s Republican incumbent in the 2016 election.
In addition to her activism on Florida’s abortion laws and transgender medical treatment, Warren also refused to prosecute 67 Black Lives Matter activists arrested in June 2020 at a protest in Tampa that turned violent over the anger over the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
It’s unclear whether Warren knew about the suspension before DeSantis publicly announced it Thursday.
DailyMail.com has reached out to the Hillsborough County District Attorney’s office for comment.
DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, had hinted at “a major announcement” Wednesday night before the press conference, saying it will lead to “the liberal media meltdown of the year.”
“MAJOR announcement tomorrow morning from @GovRonDeSantis. Get ready for the liberal media meltdown of the year,” Pushaw wrote on Twitter. “Everyone get some rest tonight.”
It sparked furious speculation that he could reveal that he is running for president in 2024.
But DeSantis’ spokeswoman appeared to quash those rumors, specifying on Twitter that the announcement is related to the Florida governor’s office rather than campaign business.
He also reaffirmed DeSantis’ intention to run for a second term in Tallahassee this November.
“He has already announced that he is running for re-election as governor,” Pushaw wrote. “All I can say about tomorrow’s surprise announcement is that it’s nothing to do with the campaign. It’s an official matter.
Florida’s popular Republican governor saw his national profile rise as a critic of the Biden administration
Pushaw on Thursday morning then said: “No one has guessed today’s announcement yet, although some of you have guessed the governor’s priorities for the upcoming legislative session.”
At a news conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday, DeSantis called for doctors who perform gender-affirming treatments on minors to be sued.
It’s the latest plan in the popular Republican figure’s months-long culture war with the LGBTQ community, which has shot up his national profile with moments like his public spat with the Walt Disney Company over the new “Don’t Say Gay” law. ” from Florida.
DeSantis’ comments came as he spoke about his state’s substance abuse recovery model, drawing wild applause in response.
“One of the things they’re trying to do is they’re talking about these very young children getting gendered attention,” the governor said.
“But they don’t tell you what that is, it’s that they’re actually doing double mastectomies on very young girls. They want to castrate these young boys. That’s wrong.’
When asked by DailyMail.com who “they” was referring to, Pushaw replied that they were “the powerful institutions and individuals who push the false narrative that so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ (experimental medical and surgical interventions) is the best way to deal with gender dysphoria or confusion in children and young people.’
“Furthermore, ‘they’ – the politicians, doctors and activists who promote ‘gender affirmative care’ – falsely claim that puberty blockers are safe and should be given to children who are confused about the his gender”.
DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw teased a “major” announcement on Twitter Wednesday night
DeSantis continued during his press conference: “We stood up and said, both from a health and child welfare standpoint, you know, don’t disfigure 1012 13-year-olds, based on dysphoria of gender”.
He highlighted a 2011 study often cited by opponents of gender-affirmation care for children and adolescents, which suggests that most transgender youth come out of it as adults.
Critics of the study have insisted it presents an incomplete picture.
“Eighty percent is resolved, anyway, when they get older,” DeSantis said. “I think these doctors should be sued for what’s going on.”
He has closed the gap on Trump in the Republican polls and has announced himself to enter the race after his response to COVID.
DeSantis has responded to those calls by insisting his focus remains on Florida for now, though he hasn’t ruled out challenging the former president in a future Republican primary.
In his home state, a July 15 poll projects DeSantis beating Trump at the polls.
Only 33 percent of Republican voters in the Sunshine State said they would support Trump, while 51 percent support DeSantis, according to the Vision of victory poll published on Monday. The rest were undecided.
A Wisconsin straw poll taken in May also shows DeSantis has a 38 percent share of a broader group of Republican candidates. Trump followed closely behind with 32 percent, and Nikki Haley came in a distant third.
In New Hampshire, where the first presidential primaries are traditionally held, DeSantis leads Trump by a modest two points for 39 percent support among voters. The survey was conducted by the University of New Hampshire Survey Center in June.
