Imagine, the emotional complexity of being the elected governor of a state and you boastfully issue a design for a government-mandated registration that the government makes you pay for, which openly promotes resisting the government that your followers claim is tyrannical. Well, that’s Ron DeSantis.
According to the Palm Beach Post, the Republican Florida governor has issued a new license plate design featuring the Gadsden flag with the slogan “Don’t Tread on Me,” popular with anti-government groups, so-called sovereign citizens and domestic terrorists. It became popular with Tea Baggers, QAnon conspiracy theorists and Trump supporters.
The Colonial-era flag features an image of a coiled snake and served as a warning to the British government which was actually oppressing the American colonists with a heavy tax burden and no representation in Parliament.
“The free state of Florida has a new license plate for pre-order that benefits the Florida Veterans Foundation and sends a clear message to out-of-state cars, ‘Don’t Tread on Me’ or Florida,” DeSantis tweeted about the new design.
Given that Florida’s largest economic power comes from tourism, it seems odd that the governor of the state would threaten people interested in coming to Florida to not “tread” there. It may have been more helpful issuing a “Florida Man” license plate that tells residents, “Don’t Be Stupid.”