In Ron DeSantis’s newly-released autobiography, “The Courage to Be Free,” the popular governor explores how courage, virtue, and leadership go hand in hand, and attributes his explosive rise in popularity to his willingness to make hard, unorthodox decisions for the good of the American people.

Not surprisingly, the media is displeased.

The same media that fawned over a foreign, spoiled prince’s memoir takes serious issue with a book basically about serving the American people.

Despite the book’s courage-centric narrative, the media falsely claims it is “all about bowing and scraping.” The Guardian, for example, writes that DeSantis “doesn’t show much courage.” And months before it even hit shelves, Vanity Fair was already calling the book “deeply cringeworthy.”

None of this comes as a surprise to DeSantis, of course. He is used to being hounded by the media. Much to their chagrin, however, he makes no secret that he, frankly, does not care what they say about him.

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Consider the following remarks from his new book:

“We live in a bizarre time in which narrative has supplanted facts,” he writes, “and I had no illusions about how my flurry of activity would be met by corporate media outlets, who like those Republicans who refuse to do anything substantive and dutifully accept leftist narratives. Indeed, during the coronavirus pandemic I was the governor most targeted for smears by corporate media and, since January 20, 2021, no Republican officeholder faced more consistent — and erroneous — attacks.

This is the cost of exercising leadership in modern America. A governor who leads by aggressively pursuing policies that defy the leftist ideology of the nation’s elites will face fire — not only by the legacy media but also from activist groups, Big Tech, and corporate America.

To be successful, a leader must be willing to take these hits. It is not always easy, especially when so many of the attacks are blatant lies, but this is simply the price one must pay for exercising leadership. It is a price worth paying. When I took strong stands against the prevailing narrative on draconian coronavirus policies, I may have been vilified by the usual suspects, but I was able to save the livelihoods of millions of people throughout Florida. The Fauci-worshipping coastal elites had no regard for these people, and it fell to me to protect the people of Florida from the destructive biomedical security state.”


He goes on to admit that politics and leadership are not always the same thing. Politicians do what they can to stay in office. A leader, DeSantis says, will do the right thing no matter the cost.

SEE ALSO: DeSantis keeps proving the corporate media wrong

“It might be the case that, when making a tough decision, the politics do not work out,” he points out. “One could even lose an election due to standing on principle. This is a risk that a leader simply must take. If doing the right thing results in losing an election, then so be it.”

This is the overarching theme of “The Courage to Be Free”: America needs leaders who will stand on their principles whether the media likes it or not. In this day and age, taking a stand will draw fire. But in words often attributed to Winston Churchill: “You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.”

The media hates Ron DeSantis. He’s been compared to “a gator high on meth” and called a “petty man-child.” Yet the American people love him. This perfectly highlights the gaping disparity between today’s elite media class and everyday Americans. Additionally, it underscores the need for courage; courage not to be swayed but media judgments or elitist opinions, but simply to stand on principle.  This is, in short, DeSantis’s blueprint to America’s revival – we must do what is right even if it pits the whole corporate establishment against us.

And that’s exactly what Florida’s governor is doing.

Jakob Fay is a staff writer for the Convention of States Project, a project of Citizens for Self-Governance.

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