New York City Mayor Eric Adams faced quite an intensive backlash on Twitter after offering a chilly welcome to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is visiting here for a law enforcement event. On Monday morning, the 20th of February, DeSantis spoke at the Privé catering hall in Staten Island, where he was listed as a special guest for a “discussion on protecting Law and Order in New York.” DeSantis is also expected to hold additional events in the city.
During the event, however, Adams sent a fiery tweet welcoming DeSantis to the city and offering to teach the Florida governor “about values” while he is in town.” 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 healthcare,” Adams tweeted. “We’re happy to teach you something about values while you’re here.”
Top DeSantis aide Christina Pushaw shortly after replied, “And we are happy to teach you about this ratio.” She then followed up with another tweet, suggesting that Adams may be the one who can learn from DeSantis and offered some fast facts about migration out of New York and into Florida. “Nice rhetoric — but here’s reality: More Americans fled NYC than any other metro area last year. More Americans moved to Florida than any other state,” she wrote.
“You know this, Mayor Adams, and you’ve talked (accurately) about crime pushing people out of NYC. Florida’s crime rate meanwhile is at a 50 year low. Maybe it’s you who can learn from @RonDeSantisFL?” DeSantis Deputy Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern also responded to Adams’ tweet, noting that Florida has recently increased in population while NYC decreased. He also claimed that Florida is at a 50-year low in crime while all major crime in NYC is up 22%. Quite an exciting back and forth of comebacks, to be honest.
Tablet Magazine Chief Technology Officer Noam Blum also hopped in andslammed the NYC governor, tweeting, “Someone as embattled as Adams basically has nothing aside for appeals to populism like this. Fix your dumb city, dude.” Many other prominent Twitter accounts also weighed in on Adams’ tweet.
DeSantis and Adams previously feuded over several political flashpoints. Following DeSantis’ decision to sign the HB1557 bill into law, officially known as the “Florida Parental Rights in Education Act” and dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, Adams announced a billboard campaign in Florida encouraging residents to move to NYC.
