Edited by: Fern Sidman

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke at a pro-law enforcement event held at the Privé catering hall on the South Shore of Staten Island, on Monday morning,  amid speculations he would run for president, the Epoch Times reported.

DeSantis’ appearance in New York City’s “reddest” borough comes months after his last trip in October 2022, when he came to Long Island to campaign for Republican Congressman Lee Zeldin during the 2022 gubernatorial race. Zeldin was also present at the Staten Island event on Monday morning.

Staten Island is the only borough in the deep-blue New York City that backed former President Donald Trump during the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, the Epoch Times reported.

The event was hosted by the Staten Island Republican Party and drew the likes of local GOP heavy-hitters such as the party’s chair — Assembly Member Michael Tannousis — and City Council Minority Leader Joe Borelli (Staten Island), as was reported by amny.com. Rep. Lee Zeldin delivered a powerful introduction of DeSantis and referenced the main topic of his speech which was the importance of supporting law enforcement. Zeldin appeared after New York State Fraternal Order of Police President Mike Essig spoke.

DeSantis charged up the enthusiastic crowd by asking how many of them present at the event either live in Florida, visit Florida, own property in Florida or have relatives and/or friends that live in the Sunshine State. He also inquired about how many of them would end up retiring in Florida.

“Is this Florida north or is Florida Staten Island south?” the governor jokingly asked the crowd, according to report on the silive.com web site. “You don’t have to look far in Florida to find someone that’s got Staten Island roots.”

The popular governor then spotlighted Florida’s accomplishments in net migration rate, new business formations, education freedom, parental involvement in education, and GDP growth in his tenure as governor, the Epoch Times reported.

“We have one of the lowest per capita tax burdens in the country, one of the lowest per capita debt burdens in the country… a record budget surplus … that … our unemployment rate 2.5 percent—that’s over a percentage point lower than the nation as a whole,” the Florida governor said, according to The Epoch Times report.

“The foundation of Florida’s success has been a commitment to law and order and support for the men and women who wear the uniform,” he added.

The Epoch Times reported that the governor then took a swipe at government prosecutors who subscribe to the “woke agenda” and said they have been “aiding and abetting” public disorder and by doing so are “hugely detrimental to the safety and security” of Americans. He also and told the cheering crowd that “Florida is where woke goes to die.”

“So in Florida, we made that very clear that we were not going to tolerate prosecutors putting themselves above the law,” DeSantis said, as was reported by the Epoch Times. He recalled the time he fired a state attorney who allegedly refused to prosecute violators of abortion laws in Florida.

“I read that New York is the only state that doesn’t allow judges to consider when they’re making a bail determination whether someone’s a danger to the community — that’s like one of the most important things that you need to be considering when you’re making these bail determinations,” said DeSantis, according to a report in the New York Daily News.

The NY Daily News also reported that DeSantis blamed New York’s bail laws on Democrats trying to “out-woke” each other, and, in reference to NYPD officers, added: “You apprehend a criminal, bring him in, and then they just release ‘em, so you got to risk your life again two weeks later to apprehend the same guy all over again. How does that make any sense? Is that making your community any safer by doing that? So you need to do things like repeal these failed pieces of legislation.”

Like DeSantis, New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also recently taken aim at “woke” members of the Democratic Party, the Daily News reported. “There’s a hemorrhaging of our Latino community, our AAPI communities, that’s leaving the traditional Democratic base, because we’ve allowed the loudest and those who consider themselves to be ‘woke’ [to take charge],” Adams said in an appearance on MSNBC earlier this month.

For his part Adams, a Democrat, took to Twitter to slam the Republican presidential hopeful during his Staten Island visit over his implementation of what many argue are anti LGBTQ plus policies and his pro-life stance, according to a report on the amny.com web site.

“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,” Adams wrote. “We’re happy to teach you something about values while you’re here.”

DeSantis drew headlines last fall when he claimed responsibility for sending chartered planes of asylum seekers to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, as a political stunt, amny.com reported. He even set aside $12 million in his state budget last year for the purpose of transporting migrants out of Florida, according to a published report.

In addition to his increasing appearances in states outside of Florida, DeSantis has shown an increasing tendency to weigh in on national-level issues, such as chairmanship of the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Russia–Ukraine war, The Epoch Times reported.

When asked about his decision about a presidential bid on Fox News on Monday, DeSantis said the decision would come after Florida’s legislative session wraps up in May 2023.

“We’re going to sell some books, we’re going to spread the message of Florida. And then on March 8, I have our Legislative Session that’s kicking off,” DeSantis said, as was reported by The Epoch Times.  “So those are what we’re going to be doing over these next few months as we get beyond that, then we can decide from there.”

Former President Donald Trump declared his candidacy for 2024 in November 2022.

Trump in the past few weeks has accused DeSantis of being a RINO (Republican in Name Only), criticized DeSantis’s alleged opposition to Medicare, and said DeSantis is trying to “rewrite” the “history” of Florida’s Covid response, the Epoch Times reported. Trump received flack for using derogatory names for DeSantis such as “Meatball Ron” which critics claimed was an anti-Italian reference.

DeSantis has taken the high road and has not directly addressed criticisms leveled at him by Trump.

The Epoch Times reported that the governor said he’s instead focused on countering the Biden administration.

“I spend my time delivering results for the people of Florida, and fighting against Joe Biden, that’s how I spend my time. I don’t spend my time trying to smear other Republicans,” he said, according to the report.