Heir to the Throne: Ron DeSantis’s Inheritance of a Trumpian COVID-19 Ideology

Despite the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic, a surprising number of Americans remain skeptical of vaccines and other preventative measures. This variance in attitude may be explained in part by the diverse pandemic responses of state governors and their political ideologies. Using Florida governor Ron DeSantis as a case study, we analyze an October 2021 press conference using the rhetorical method of ideological criticism to explore the governor’s ideological stance towards public health, personal liberty, and the balance between safety and economic concerns. We find he embraces an ideology of “Trumpism” that emphasizes personal choice over public health and economic prosperity over safety. We argue that DeSantis’s rhetorical choices help position him as a political heir to Trump and that he used his pandemic response to achieve this political goal. Our analysis helps illuminate the motivations behind DeSantis’s public health decisions during the pandemic and how other governors may have been similarly motivated. Our research contributes to the study of the rhetoric of political leaders and how their policy responses can be ideologically constructed through their speeches as well as how they can use rhetorical strategies to conceal and reveal their motives.