DeSantis criticizes Haley for ‘virtue signaling’ over George Floyd death

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday criticized former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) over her comments regarding the killing of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in May 2020. Republican) for “suggesting virtue'' to liberals.

After Floyd's killing, Haley posted on X, then known as Twitter, that the killing was “personal and painful for all Americans.” Floyd's death was caught on camera and shared via social media, sparking global protests. In America, some demonstrations turn violent.

In the final Republican debate before Wednesday's Iowa caucuses, DeSantis called the protests “the worst violence in the modern history of this country.”

“The people of Iowa had no connection to Florida or South Carolina,” DeSantis said. “She was making a virtue case to the left and buying into that narrative, and she was trying to impress people who would never like us.”

Both Haley and Desanitz have been outspoken opponents of Black Lives Matter, a group many people have protested against the killing of Black Americans by police.

Haley fired back at DeSantis, accusing him of tweeting similar things about Floyd's death, an allegation DeSantis denied.

Haley also pointed to how Palmetto responded to racist mass shootings during her time as governor, including the 2015 shooting at a Charleston church in which a white gunman killed 10 black parishioners. did.

“There was a horrific shooting at a church, where white supremacists broke in and killed nine wonderful souls,” Haley said. “BLM, in all of that, we didn't have to deal with riots. Ron, we didn't have to call in the National Guard because when we had both of those shootings, we didn't have to deal with riots. Because we were able to unite. There were no riots, there were vigils. We didn't have protests, but we had prayers. We rallied people.”

Haley also stood by her decision to remove the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State Capitol in the wake of the Charleston church shooting.

Previously, Haley said the flag was a symbol of heritage and history. After the shooting, she said it was a “very unpleasant symbol of a brutal and oppressive past” for many people.