He has transformed the state of which he is governor into a laboratory of conservative ideas. Rising star of the hard right, Ron DeSantis hopes to see his toughest positions on immigration, abortion or gender issues propel him to the White House.
Much to the chagrin of Donald Trump. The 44-year-old former naval officer, who shares the billionaire's ideas but not the excesses, is the former president's main obstacle on his road to the Republican nomination.
Triumphantly re-elected as head of Florida, Ron DeSantis makes the headlines almost daily in American newspapers, caught up in his fight against supposed "well-thinking".
“Florida is the tomb of Wokism,” the Sunshine State boss said in November.
As such, this man with a compact physique and a rare smile throws himself into "culture wars", controversies around subjects such as teaching on racism or gender, with very conservative and disputed decisions.
Born into a middle-class family of Italian origins, Ron DeSantis graduated from the prestigious Yale University - where he also distinguished himself on the baseball team - and from the demanding Harvard Law School.
He practiced law in the military, serving as an adviser at the Guantanamo base and to elite troops in Iraq.
Quite quickly, he positioned himself as a pure and hard conservative.
In 2011, he published "The Dreams of Our Founding Fathers" - in reference to Barack Obama's autobiography, "My Father's Dreams". Ron DeSantis criticizes the Democratic president for having broken, because of his "progressive" vision, with the Constitution.
In 2012, Ron DeSantis won a seat in the House of Representatives, to which he was re-elected twice.
In 2018, he became governor with a slim majority after having multiplied the signs of allegiance to Donald Trump. In a campaign clip, he climbs a wall of colored cubes with his daughter, in reference to the Republican president's project on the border with Mexico.
Almost unknown to the battalion before this surprise victory, he made a name for himself on a national scale during the Covid-19 pandemic with a discourse hostile to health measures.
Ron DeSantis also recently joined the Republican governors of Texas and Arizona in sending migrants to Democratic cities in the north and east of the country.
A radical positioning, therefore, but no personal exuberance.
With his wife Casey, a former television presenter who advises him closely, and their three children Madison, Mason and Mamie, he strives to soften a cold image.
“The problem with DeSantis is that he would need to have personality transplanted,” Donald Trump recently mocked on his network, Truth Social.
An anecdote comes up in the press to illustrate his penchant for solitude: Ron DeSantis, at the Capitol, roamed the halls with wireless headphones stuck in his ears, to discourage any impromptu conversation.
Stiff, distant … but pragmatic, plead his supporters, taking as an example his management of a catastrophic hurricane in his State, Ian.
Brilliant student, scion of the middle class who made himself, devoted husband who supported his wife in the face of breast cancer, decorated veteran… The glowing portrait of Ron DeSantis by his supporters has everything to exasperate Donald Trump.
The former president, follower of vexing nicknames, wanted to launch against the Catholic governor of Florida that of "Ron DeSanctimonius", which can be translated as "Ron-la-Morale" or "Ron-choirboy" . No big response so far.
23/05/2023 21:35:03 - Washington (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
