Emails obtained by the Washington Post reveal that evil little bastard Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s campaign banned guns from the November election night party in Tampa but tried to make it look like it was city officials’ fault due to the obvious “political optics” of such a move.

“DeSantis/his campaign will not tell their attendees they are not permitted to carry because of the political optics,” wrote Chase Finch, security manager the city-owned Tampa Convention Center, in an email to other city officials on October 28th, as they prepared for what ended up being Ronnie’s victory party as he crushed former Governor Charlie Crist by 17 points. “Republicans largely being in support of [the Second Amendment]. Basically it sounds like they want us to say it’s our policy to disallow firearms within the event space if anyone asks,” Finch continued in the email.

Naturally DeSantis’s team denied it to the Post. “We do not comment on speculation and hearsay. The Governor is strongly in support of individuals’ constitutional right to bear arms,” said DeSantis’s deputy press secretary. “We follow the guidance of the FDLE and local law enforcement to keep the governor and his family safe during events,” said his campaign’s spokeswoman.

Alchua County, Florida GOP Chairman Tim Marden, who told the Post he skipped an event with DeSantis last year because there were metal detectors at the door, said he believed it and somewhat surprisingly acknowledged the hypocrisy. “In my thinking, it was a little hypocritical to have this measure in place for law-abiding citizens at a time when a lot of folks in the gun community will condemn a Democratic politician for having a security force,” said Marden.