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DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw resigns to work on governor's campaign

"Now, the gloves are off," she tweeted.
Credit: Marta Lavandier | AP Photo
Christina Pushaw, press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, listens during a press conference, Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2021, in Pembroke Pines, Fla.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Christina Pushaw, the press secretary for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned to take on a role in the governor's reelection campaign.

"Now, the gloves are off," the now-former spokesperson wrote Friday morning, retweeting her resignation letter published by The Florida Standard account on Twitter. It says Pushaw will serve as DeSantis' director of rapid response as he faces off against Democratic challengers vying to become the next governor.

In her letter, Pushaw wrote deputy press secretary Bryan Griffin is her successor.

"I am proud to have been part of a team that has helped Floridians through historic challenges, and continues to deliver results that make life better for the people of our great state," she wrote. 

She defended efforts in fighting COVID-related lockdowns and vaccine passports, keeping schools open throughout much of the pandemic and "upholding the rule of law" by making mention of DeSantis' recent action to suspend Hillsborough State Attorney Andrew Warren from his post. DeSantis argued that Warren violated his oath of office and selectively picked the types of laws he enforced; Warren contended DeSantis' order contained "conjecture and lies" and said his former office received no cases that provided the grounds for suspension.

Pushaw's public tweets and statements have drawn the ire of Democrats and made her a controversial figure since she took the role of DeSantis' press secretary.

Last summer she was suspended from Twitter for what the company called "abusive behavior" after The Associated Press said her conduct led to a reporter receiving threats and other online abuse, the outlet reported. In objecting to a reporter's story which pointed out that one of DeSantis' donors invests in a company making the COVID-19 treatment drug Regeneron, a since-deleted retweet contained the story with the comment "drag them."

She said she deleted the tweet because she didn't mean it as a threat.

When The Washington Post reported that Pushaw earlier this year was a foreign agent of a former president of Georgia, DeSantis, in part, called the story a "smear piece" and, "The only reason they're attacking her is because she does a great job, and she's very effective at calling out their lies and their phony narratives."

   

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