DeSantis invokes China ‘boogeyman’ narrative amid flailing campaign

Critics say linking the schools to China’s communist party with no evidence comes from DeSantis’s desire to stoke anti-Chinese sentiment. Photograph: Mario Tama/Getty Images

It was a desperately needed moment of grandeur for Ron DeSantis: the Florida governor’s strongman act over China briefly lifting his stuttering presidential campaign during last week’s Republican primary debate in California.

But what DeSantis left unsaid as he railed against China’s growing global influence, while promising a “hard power” approach to Beijing should he win the White House, was how his posturing was hurting students and families back in his home state.