This past Monday saw Governor Ron DeSantis officially kick off a national pro-police tour with the first stop being at Staten Island, prompting a response from New York City Mayor Eric Adams and a staunch defense of the Florida Republican from his supporters all over social media.
Adams — who first took office back on January 1st, 2022, and reportedly has plans to throw his hate in the ring for the 2024 presidential race — posted a series of rude statements to social media at DeSantis, whose conservative policies and popularity have marked him as a potentially highly formidable White House candidate.
“Welcome to NYC, @GovRonDeSantis , a place where we don’t ban books, discriminate against our LGBTQ+ neighbors, use asylum seekers as props, or let the government stand between a woman and health care,” exclaimed Adams via Twitter. “We’re happy to teach you something about values while you’re here.”
The highly sarcastic comments coming from Adams, whose city has been dealing with massive spikes in the rate of major crimes by close to 22% in 2022 when compared to 2021, prompted a hellish backlash from all corners of Twitter, where many commenters highlighted that the recent exodus from New York more often than not ends up in Florida.
Adams, as a former captain of the NYPD, was ironically needling a fellow politician even as he tried to advocate for members of law enforcement. The “Framework for Freedom Budget” from DeSantis includes significant salary increases for a large number of law enforcement personnel, as it states:
- $6.8 million for special pay adjustments based on salary ranges for all sworn law enforcement officers within FDLE, Department of Legal Affairs (DLA), State Attorneys, and State Courts (SCS); and
- $8.5 million for an increase for years of service for sworn law enforcement officers within FDLE, DLA, State Attorneys, and SCS.
- $107.2 million to increase the Department of Corrections’ (FDC) base rate of pay to $23 per hour for specified Correctional Officer, Correctional Probation Officer, and Inspector positions;
- $1.8 million to provide a four percent increase to Special Agents and Law Enforcement positions within the Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE);
- $30 million for a second round of recruitment bonus payments for law enforcement officers who are new to the profession in the state, including those relocating from other states. This initiative will provide bonus payments of $5,000 to new eligible law enforcement officers.