Last week the Tampa Bay Rays tweeted that they were donating $50,000 to Mike Bloomberg’s gun control group after the Buffalo and Uvalde massacres.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
In lieu of game coverage and in collaboration with @Yankees, we will use our channels to offer facts about the impacts of gun violence.
The devastating events that took place in Uvalde, Buffalo and countless other communities across our nation are tragedies that are intolerable.
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) May 26, 2022
Today it’s being reported that in response, DeSantis is planning to veto taxpayer funding for their baseball facility.
Via Breitbart:
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reportedly plans to veto a bill earmarking $35 million for a Tampa Bay Rays facility days after the team went on an anti-gun tirade on social media alongside the New York Yankees.
The decision, first reported by OutKick, would have the governor nixing “$35 million legislation for a Pasco County facility that’s earmarked for the Tampa Bay Rays’ spring training,” according to the outlet, which asserted that the move is in response to the Tampa Bay Rays’ recent display of anti-Second Amendment virtue-signaling on social media.
This would not be the first time DeSantis has taken action against woke organizations advancing anti-freedom ideas in his state, taking on Disney after it vowed to fight against the Parental Rights in Education bill, which bars classroom-led discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity for children in kindergarten through third grade.
“And so in Florida, our policies got to be based on the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musing of woke corporations,” the governor said in March.
If this reporting turns out to be true, I’m sure some will bash DeSantis for penalizing speech or something.
But honestly, I don’t get that. Why would DeSantis allow taxpayer funding to go toward an organization that’s going to turn around and spend that money to take away the second amendment rights of citizens?
It’s essentially the same reason I think NPR should be completely defunded and I think that’s legit. So if he decides to veto it, I’m onboard.