Mamas for DeSantis Launch Video Goes Viral

Florida first lady Casey DeSantis is appearing in a new viral video touting the "Mamas for DeSantis" initiative as her husband Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' bid for the presidency in 2024 continues to struggle.

Mamas for DeSantis initially launched last year in support of DeSantis' second gubernatorial campaign, which the campaign said mobilized 1.1 million mothers. A tweet sharing the video for the national initiative had been viewed more than 1.3 million times within hours of being posted Thursday night.

A page for the initiative on the DeSantis campaign website says that it "is bringing together millions of fired-up mamas ready to stand up for their children's futures and put an end to the woke mob's hostile takeover of the lives of parents, children, and families across the nation."

The Mamas for DeSantis launch comes as polling continues to show the Florida governor in a distance second place to former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. Trump has aggressively fought DeSantis' candidacy, launching a series of often personal attacks that refer to the governor as "Ron DeSanctimonious."

The DeSantis campaign has promoted a platform that features some policies that are very similar to Trump's, while sparingly attacking the former president directly. Most of the attacks have been limited to criticism of Trump's past comments in support of the LGBTQ+ community and transgender inclusion. The Mamas for DeSantis ad repeats some of the same messaging.

"We will not allow you to exploit the innocence of our children to advance your agenda," Casey DeSantis wrote while sharing the Mamas for DeSantis video to Twitter. "When you come after our kids, we fight back. We are no longer silent. We are united. We are Mamas for DeSantis. ... and we will elect @RonDeSantis President of the United States."

The 2 1/2-minute video, backed by dramatic music, takes aim at groups and individuals that it says are "coming for" American children. With Casey DeSantis narrating, dark images play of a mother getting arrested, crying children resisting face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic, transgender athletes, other LGBTQ+ community members and former White House medical adviser Anthony Fauci.

"We've been forced into silence, into compliance," Casey DeSantis says in the voiceover. "We've been told that we must deny truth, back down and look the other way ... But enough is enough ... There's nothing we won't do to protect our children. They're not yours ... We are no longer silent, we are united and we have finally found our fighter."

The video then shows a clip of Ron DeSantis defending his anti-transgender policies in Florida before promising that the governor will "do for America what he did for us," promising to ban "critical race theory," diversity, equity and inclusion programs, "save" sports for girls, outlaw "child mutilation" and guarantee "freedom."

"Winning the fight in Florida is just the beginning," Casey DeSantis says as the video ends. "We must protect parents' rights and the innocence of our children. We must restore sanity in our society. We need every mama and every grandmama in every corner of the country to stand up and fight back by electing Ron DeSantis as president of the United States of America."

Casey DeSantis also appeared alongside Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds on Thursday night for an in-person Mamas for DeSantis launch event in the Des Moines suburb of Johnston.

The DeSantis campaign claimed on Twitter that Mamas for DeSantis was "the largest movement of parents in American political history."

DeSantis campaign official Carly Atchison tweeted a photo of the "packed house" for the in-person launch event, although it appeared to show that it was taking place in a relatively small venue.

Newsweek has reached out to the DeSantis campaign online for comment.