Specifically, Schulz has accused DeSantis of "declaring war on Wall Street" (which is full of wealthy corporations Democrats love to attack as 'not paying their fair share of taxes') with his push against environmental, social, and governance (ESG) investing. She also claimed to Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power" program that the governor “doesn’t understand the impact on corporations and businesses."
“Not only is it not helping grow our pension plans, Gov. DeSantis has essentially declared war on Wall Street. He really clearly doesn’t understand the impact on corporations and businesses who simply want to make sure that they can operate ethically, that they’re making decisions that are going to improve their diversity, improve sustainability, improve transparency," she said, according to Breitbart News.
"Those are all values that are good for business. And Gov. DeSantis has declared war on those things. Either he doesn’t understand the positive impact or the bottom line for businesses when they engage in those practices, or he’s allergic to them, or he’s just decided that culture warrior is his pathway to the White House, or at least to the Republican nomination. It’s damaging our economy here. It’s going to make businesses less likely to locate here," she stated.
In fact, it's likely to make more companies relocate to Florida so they don't have to adopt the distracting, unwise, and impractical ESG investing strategies that ignore market heavyweight industries like fossil fuels.
For most of his tenure and certainly since he was resoundingly reelected in November by a history 20 points, DeSantis has been making headlines for his aggressive stance on what he calls the "culture war." The term refers to a range of issues, including the left's advancement of critical race theory, transgenderism, and the warping of American history. DeSantis has positioned himself as a champion of conservative values, vowing to fight against what he sees as a liberal agenda in schools, universities, and government, and it is said he is a top contender for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.
DeSantis's approach to the culture war has been both confrontational and highly strategic. He has made a series of controversial decisions that have attracted attention from both supporters and critics.
For example, he signed a law banning transgender girls from playing on girls' sports teams in public schools last year, arguing that this was necessary to protect women's sports. He has also spoken out against critical race theory, a framework that seeks to examine how systemic racism affects American society.
“In Florida, we are taking a stand against the state-sanctioned racism that is critical race theory,” said DeSantis in December 2021. “We won’t allow Florida tax dollars to be spent teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other.
"We also have a responsibility to ensure that parents have the means to vindicate their rights when it comes to enforcing state standards. Finally, we must protect Florida workers against the hostile work environment that is created when large corporations force their employees to endure CRT-inspired ‘training’ and indoctrination," he added.
DeSantis's approach to the culture war has won him support among many conservative voters, who see him as a strong defender of traditional values. One is to use the power of the state government to push his agenda. He has signed a series of executive orders that prohibit the teaching of critical race theory in public schools and government agencies.
He has also signed laws that limit the ability of local governments to pass their own COVID-19 restrictions. DeSantis has argued that these measures are necessary to protect individual freedom and prevent government overreach.
Sources include: