Florida Governor as the Top Gun? Or Maverick?

Like Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Florida Governor Ron Desantis has embraced a Trumpian approach to immigration.  He also apparently shares the former President’s sense of showmanship.

Governor Desantis 

“is cast as a maverick in a new campaign ad. Or more accurately, he’s cast as THE Maverick, Tom Cruise’s character from this summer’s blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick.

In the `Top Gov’ spot released late Monday, DeSantis arrives in a bomber jacket and — mirroring scenes from the film — gives a whiteboard lecture, though his is about `taking on the corporate media,’ not about pulling 10 Gs during a bombing run. He then zips up his flight suit and walks out onto the tarmac. It ends with DeSantis, helmet on, in the cockpit of a fighter jet.

Check out the video.  Not all viewers liked the ad. The title to Gillian Brockell’s story for the Washington Post (“DeSantis fighter jet ad conjures 1988 Dukakis tank debacle”) says it all.  For the reactions of a Navy pilot, click here.

Even though I did not care much for the DeSantis ad, I admit to enjoying the Top Gun pair of movies and was in a theater watching Top Gun: Maverick the first Saturday after its release.

KJ