When Erika Donalds' media mouthpiece and Matt Gaetz hold a televised séance to summon fake scandals, you know—at least for them—it’s campaign season—and competence is the real threat.
In an OANN segment that should’ve come with a warning label—“Side effects may include secondhand embarrassment and projectile irony”—Brandon Leslie, CEO of Florida’s Voice (also known as Erika Donalds’ House Organ), joined Matt Gaetz the human emobdiement of an ethical scandal— to perform the latest ritual in a desperate political exorcism: smearing Hope Florida and Casey DeSantis for the unforgivable crime of being competent.
It’s an old grift dressed in new concern. Picture a magician who yells “pick a card” while your wallet’s already gone.
Let’s begin.
“I Don’t Even Know If Hope Florida Knew…”
Gaetz, donning his best “I’m just asking questions” face—as much as he can attempt to with all that botox—begins by wondering aloud if Hope Florida knew it was a “pass-through” for Medicaid money.
This is the rhetorical equivalent of farting in an elevator and pretending to be shocked at the smell.
No evidence. No document trail. No Medicaid memo mysteriously marked “From Soros.” Just a greasy innuendo served with a side of projection.
The idea is to make it seem as if it’s “an already known” that that’s this must be the case. The irony? A basic understanding of the case—not even advanced, just basic—would tell you that it wasn’t Medicaid money, it wasn’t illegal, and that there is no federal investigation because no laws were broken.
No smoke. No fire. Just Alex Andrade with a lighter and a fog machine. Of course, this whole charade isn’t accidental—it’s manufactured.
Confessions of a Concern Troll
The so-called “controversy” has been shopped around like a Black Friday doorbuster by none other than Rep. Alex Andrade, a man whose political ambition appears to be inversely proportional to his discernment. He’s not investigating corruption—he’s incentivized to keep the story alive just long enough to stain it into public memory like wine on white linen.
And how do we know this? Because Brandon Leslie—Erika Donalds’ personal press secretary masquerading as a journalist—says it out loud.
He doesn’t talk about facts, or ethics, or evidence. No, he talks about Google search results.
As in: “Sure, this may go nowhere legally, but one day someone will Google ‘Casey DeSantis’ and see ten headlines we planted ourselves.”
That’s the entire game.
They know this “scandal” isn’t real—but if they say it enough times, in enough headlines, they think it will become real. It’s not about uncovering truth. It’s about repetition masquerading as reality.
And this is where the grift reveals itself. Because like most con men, they mistake volume for cleverness.
They believe their deception is so well-crafted that you won’t notice when they expose their own strategy.
But as Brandon so helpfully demonstrates: grifters aren’t undone by their critics.
They’re undone by their own mouths.
As for Gaetz, you’d think someone operating a constellation of PAC-adjacent influence networks would exercise caution before throwing around terms like pass-through. But alas, self-awareness isn’t sold at the merch tent—and if it were, he’d walk right past it in favor of another round of performative outrage.
This is a man feigning concern for ethics while dragging behind him the wreckage of a federal investigation, a confirmed ethics report, and a Venmo trail more damning than a confession.
Pretending to be the conscience of the movement? Please. He’s the cautionary tale.
The fact that it takes an entire network of unethical grifters, undisclosed ties, fake scandals, and planted segments just to try to take down Casey DeSantis—who we still have no idea if she’s actually running—tells you everything.
They fear her because she’s effective.
They lie because the truth isn’t on their side.
The Emotional Smear
Then we get the pièce de résistance: Ron DeSantis is somehow emotional.
He’s upset.
Why? Because people are attacking his wife. You know—the woman who’s not in government, not a candidate, and not running a shadow PAC.
Yes, how dare a husband defend his wife against a fake scandal launched by a network that includes Leslies own organization that forgets to disclose its direct ties to the Donalds political machine?
What we’re witnessing here isn’t journalism.
It’s a hit job with a halo, blessed by the Church of Manufactured Outrage and bankrolled by people who are increasingly allergic to accountability.
Erika’s Voice, Is Not Florida’s
Let’s stop pretending Florida’s Voice is an independent outlet. It’s not.
It’s the in-house communications shop for Erika Donalds, who has her hands in everything from Moms for Liberty to private charter networks to legislative puppeteering. It exists not to inform, but to inoculate Byron Donalds from real scrutiny while lobbing Molotovs at potential competitors—especially ones named DeSantis.
We are supposed to believe this is about ethics. That’s like being lectured on fidelity by a man fresh out of a Motel that charges by the hour. That one’s a metaphor I don’t just mean Gaetz.
The Real Fear
So let’s be honest: this isn’t about Hope Florida.
This is about hope itself—specifically, the hope that someone like Casey DeSantis might raise the bar so high that Byron’s only option is to limbo beneath it.
She leads with discipline, poise, and clarity. He plays political hype man at CPAC panels and tries to intimidate nonprofit leaders in grocery stores.
That’s not a policy difference. That’s a competence gap so wide you could drive a settlement check through it.
The Swamp Is Always Well-Dressed
The irony is, the new swamp doesn’t wear gold chains or chew cigars. It wears suits, drops Christian catchphrases, and calls itself “concerned.”
But the tactics haven’t changed.
Neither has the ambition.
Just the accessories.
And now they’re ganging up on a woman who isn’t even on the ballot—because they know if she were, it’d be game over for the grift. So here’s hoping she’s listening and gets in or at least teams up with someone just as capable who will.
Because after all it’s not just Casey they fear—it’s what she represents: competence without compromise.
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