- Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia has proposed a bill called the “Ultimate Cancel Act” that aims to cancel any political party for their past support of slavery.
- The bill does not name any specific party, but would require the Division of Elections to “cancel” the filings of any qualifying political party.
- The proposal is an obvious political stunt rather than a serious proposal. Even in the unlikely event it passed, it would have little impact as the “canceled” party could simply rename itself while keeping all of its registered members.
- Walking directly into the trap, the Florida Democratic Party issued a harsh reaction statement that tacitly acknowledged the party’s past history of supporting slavery.
Florida State Senator Blaise Ingoglia is promoting a new bill called the “Ultimate Cancel Act,” and though it doesn’t explicitly name the Democratic Party, it’s clear from the context that Democrats are his target. Whether they are the target of actually being cancelled or just being trolled is a matter of interpretation. The proposed bill, if passed, would require the Division of Elections to immediately cancel the filings of a political party if the party’s platform has previously advocated for, or been in support of, slavery or involuntary servitude.
In comments, Ingoglia noted that the Democratic Party had adopted pro-slavery positions in their political platforms during conventions in 1840, 1844, 1856, 1860, and 1864.
“For years now, leftist activists have been trying to ‘cancel’ people and companies for things they have said or done in the past. This includes the removal of statues and memorials and the renaming of buildings,” Ingoglia said in a statement. “Using this standard, it would be hypocritical not to cancel the Democratic Party itself for the same reason.”
But some of Ingoglia’s colleagues appeared to understand the bill proposal as more of a political stunt rather than a serious proposal. State Rep. Alex Andrade retweeted a post by another user congratulating Ingoglia for “trolling” Florida Democrats:
This man just single handily trolled an entire state political party…..and they fell for it
LMAO
Say something nice about Blaise Ingoglia pic.twitter.com/rkEbzdH5XM
— Red Manatee 🇺🇸🇨🇺 (@Floridaner) March 1, 2023
Others, however, either didn’t like, or in some cases, didn’t get the joke. The Florida Democratic Party, now under the leadership of Nikki Fried, immediately attempted to turn the proposal into a political win. But in the process the FDP tacitly acknowledged that the bill, which doesn’t explicitly name any political party, would in fact apply to them:
“Presenting a bill that would disenfranchise 5 million voters is both unconstitutional and unserious. Under Ron DeSantis, Senator Ingoglia is using his office to push bills that are nothing more than publicity stunts instead of focusing on the issues that matter most to Floridians, such as reforming property insurance, addressing housing affordability and combating climate change,” the FDP’s emailed statement said. “The sooner DeSantis and his puppets in the legislature learn that Florida is a Democratic Republic and not a Banana Republic, the better it will be for all Floridians.”
Another commenter on Yahoo! News named “Mark S.” wrote, “Some politicians cannot seem to accept the fact that once you get elected, you have an obligation to represent everyone, not just people who agree with your political ideology.”
Another commenter seemed to realize it was a stunt but took issue with it nevertheless. “Doug E.” wrote, “You can’t do this. It violates the First amendment. And it’s just wrong to even think about. I’m a Republican. Since Reagan. I am conservative. And even I don’t like this. This seems like a terrible stunt that is bound to backfire.”
Indeed the stunt wouldn’t have much impact, even in the unlikely event it passed and was signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis. Ingoglia included a provision that would allow the “canceled” Democratic Party to simply rename itself while keeping all of its registered members.
And even Ingoglia seemed to acknowledge in his statement that he has an ulterior purpose behind the bill filing. “Some people want to have ‘uncomfortable conversations’ about certain subjects. Let’s have those conversations,” Ingoglia said.