DeSantis criticizes Haley for 'virtue signaling' over George Floyd death

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Wednesday ripped former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R) for “virtue signaling” liberals over her comments on the murder of George Floyd, a Black man killed by a white police officer in May 2020. 

After Floyd’s murder, Haley had posted on X, then known as Twitter, that the murder was “personal and painful for every American.” Floyd’s death, caught on camera and shared through social media, sparked global protests. Some demonstrations in America become violent. 

At Wednesday’s final GOP debate before the Iowa caucus, DeSantis said the protests were "the worst rioting in the modern history of this country.”

“People in Iowa had nothing to do with that or Florida or South Carolina,” said DeSantis. “She was virtue-signaling to the left, she was accepting the narrative and she was trying to impress people who are never going to like us.”   

Both Haley and DeSanits have been outspoken against Black Lives Matter, the organization and chant that many have said in protest to police-related killings of Black Americans.

Haley pushed back on DeSantis, calling him out for tweeting something similar over Floyd’s death, though DeSantis denied the claim. 

Haley also pointed to how in her time as governor of the Palmetto State, she dealt with racist shootings, including one in 2015 that saw a white gunman kill 10 Black parishioners at a Charleston church. 

“We had a horrific shooting at a church where white supremacists came in and killed nine amazing souls,” Haley said. “BLM, all of that, we never had to deal with riots. We never had to call in the National Guard, Ron, because when we had both of those shootings, we were able to pull people together. We didn't have riots, we had vigils. We didn't have protests, we had prayer. We brought people together.”

Haley also stood by her decision to remove the confederate flag from the South Carolina state capitol after the Charleston church shooting. 

Before then, Haley had said the flag was a symbol of heritage and history. Following the shooting, she said it was a "deeply offensive symbol of a brutally oppressive past” for many.