Ron DeSantis Drops Ad Suggesting He Was Sent By God to Govern: ‘God Made a Fighter’

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) released a very self-flattering campaign ad on Friday, one in which a narrator suggests the conservative governor is a “protector” created “on the eighth day” by God to protect paradise.

“And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, I need a protector. So God made him a fighter. God said, I need somebody willing to get up before dawn and kiss his family goodbye, travel thousands of miles for no other reason than to serve the people, to save their jobs, their livelihoods, their liberty, their happiness,” the narrator says in the ad.

“So God made a fighter,” the narrator continues as images of DeSantis flash on the screen.

“God said, I need someone to be strong, advocate truth in the midst of hysteria. Someone who challenges conventional wisdom and isn’t afraid to defend what he knows to be right. And just so God made a fighter,” the narrator continues, adding:

God said, I need somebody who will take the arrows, stand firm in the wake of unrelenting attacks. Look a mother in the eyes and tell her that her child will be in school. She can keep her job. Go to church. Eat dinner with friends.

The ad ends on a sentimental note, as the narrator concludes, “And hold the hand of an aging parent. Taking their breath for the last time. So God made a fighter. God said, I need a family man. A man who would laugh and then sigh and then reply with smiling eyes when his daughter says she wants to spend her life doing what dad does. So God made a fighter.”

This is not DeSantis’s first heavy-handed ad this election cycle, he also released an ad in late August called “Top Gov.” – inspired by Tom Cruise’s hit sequel to Top Gun, which came out on streaming the same day.

Reactions to DeSantis’s religion-infused ad ran the gambit from praise to mockery to people asking theological questions. Here are a few:

https://twitter.com/amandacarpenter/status/1588557088405553159

https://twitter.com/ChrisCillizza/status/1588557975987564545

https://twitter.com/AlbertoCairo/status/1588558694467633152