DeSantis calls attacks on Hope Florida 'bogus'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) dismissed the attacks on first lady Casey DeSantis’s signature welfare assistance program as “bogus” and “political” during a press conference Thursday, arguing that the attacks are coming from people who are “threatened” by the first lady. 

“Some of these left journalists don’t like it. They don’t like you working with the faith-based community. Some of these people view it as a way to attack the first lady and all the great things she’s done and they view her as a threat,” the governor told reporters in St. Augustine. 

The first lady, who has been mulling a run for Florida governor, was also present at the press conference and told reporters she thinks there is a “misunderstanding” about what Hope Florida is. 

“Hope Florida is not a program. Hope Florida is an idea; Hope Florida is a philosophy. It is how can we help people in need and do better,” the first lady said. 

The comments come as questions swirl around a $10 million payment to the Hope Florida Foundation, which is tied to Casey DeSantis’s welfare assistance program Hope Florida and has led to criticism from some state House Republicans. Critics argue this money was inappropriately used to help campaign against a ballot measure that would have legalized recreational marijuana in the state last November.

Critics say that money was taken from a larger settlement stemming from a case involving the state’s largest Medicaid contractor, Centene. According to them, money from that settlement, all of which was intended to be returned to state and federal coffers, was sent to the Hope Florida Foundation and eventually ended up in the hands of political groups that campaigned against the ballot measure. Gov. DeSantis was among the measure's opponents.

On Tuesday, Florida media obtained a draft of an agreement that suggested the payment was Medicaid money. However, Ron DeSantis and his allies point to a separate letter from the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration to state Rep. Alex Andrade (R), who has been investigating the matter, saying the money was not Medicaid funds and the donation was not illegal.

“Don’t misunderstand, when you see some of these political attacks, that’s just because people know this is effective. This is because they’re threatened by this model. Some people are threatened politically because the first lady has been so good at doing this,” the governor said.

“So that’s what that’s about. It’s not about the actual substance of this, and shouldn’t we as Floridians put aside political agenda to actually embrace things that have actually lifted people up, offered them up hope and put them on a pathway to self sufficiency? You should not wield political agenda to try to kneecap something that is helping people do really, really big things.”