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‘DeSantis Airways’ t-shirts tout Florida governor’s Israel flights

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign is highlighting the state’s rescue flights from war-torn Israel with new swag rolled out Thursday.

DeSantis for President is selling plain white cotton t-shirts bearing the legend “DeSantis Airways” for $28 apiece.

The governor signed an executive order Oct. 12 authorizing the Florida Division of Emergency Management to “carry out logistical, rescue and evacuation operations to keep its residents safe.” 

Since then, Florida has partnered with Project Dynamo, a Tampa-based nonprofit rescue organization, to fetch Floridians stuck in the Jewish state.

The first flight landed in Tampa Sunday evening, carrying approximately 270 passengers who were greeted by DeSantis and his wife on the tarmac.

A t-shirt with a ‘DeSantis Airways’ logo.DeSantis Storefront
The DeSantis campaign rolled out the new merchandise Thursday.DeSantis Storefront

A second flight carrying 47 passengers returned Wednesday, while a third with more than 200 on board arrived early Thursday, the governor said.

Per the DeSantis team, at least 544 Americans have been brought back from Israel via the flights.

Project Dynamo founder and CEO Bryan Stern said this week the flights would have taken place at some point, but Florida footing the bill expedited the process.

Ron DeSantis’ campaign is promoting his executive order to rescue Floridians stuck in Israel.REUTERS

“It makes it so much easier when you have backing by a state entity for sure,” Stern told the Sarasota Herald Tribune Sunday.

“Would it have been possible? I’ll tell you that I wasn’t going to leave them behind and I’m not trying to stay in Israel a moment longer than I need to so we would’ve figured it out, for sure,” Stern added.

Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management, estimated to NewsNation Tuesday that the price tag of the initial flight was “right around $4 million … with all of the services, hotel stays, rental cars — anything that we had to get to help the people get back to their homes.”

In addition to fetching Americans trapped in Israel, Florida has been transporting goods and other assistance to the critical US ally.

On Tuesday, DeSantis announced that two cargo flights with about 85 pallets worth of supplies were en route to the Middle East.

“Florida stands with the people of Israel, and we will continue to help in any way we can as they fight back against Hamas terrorists,” DeSantis declared on X.

Two cargo flights loaded with 85 pallets of donated supplies are on their way to Israel.
 
Florida stands with the people of Israel, and we will continue to help in any way we can as they fight back against Hamas terrorists. pic.twitter.com/NcF7AxWgXI

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) October 17, 2023

DeSantis’ campaign has credited him with filling a “void” left by the Biden administration.

“It was sad because the State Department and the embassy over in Israel were not helpful to these people,” DeSantis told Fox News’ Sean Hannity earlier this week.

“We were able to fill the void. There was no leadership, and so we stepped up and we led.”

About 270 people were rescued during the first flight from Israel that touched down Sunday.X / @Project_Dynamo1
Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey greeted those who were on the flight.X / @Project_Dynamo1

Major airlines such as American, Delta and United have canceled or suspended flights out of Israel due to its ongoing war against Palestinian terror group Hamas.

On Wednesday, multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy announced he would be funding flights out of Israel as well.

“I’m putting my money where my mouth is: If Biden can’t or simply won’t get Americans out of Israel, Apoorva & I are taking matters into our own hands by funding a 200-person private flight to get our fellow Americans to safety,” he declared.

America First includes *all* Americans. I'm putting my money where my mouth is: If Biden can't or simply won't get Americans out of Israel, Apoorva & I are taking matters into our own hands by funding a 200-person private flight to get our fellow Americans to safety. pic.twitter.com/AOySGPxES4

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) October 18, 2023

The State Department has been chartering flights out of Israel to evacuate US citizens, who are being asked to sign promissory notes promising to pay back the costs of their departure.

The Oct. 7 attack by Hamas killed more than 1,400 people in southern Israel, including 30 Americans.

Another 13 are unaccounted for, though some are being held hostage by Hamas, US officials have said.

DeSantis is currently in second place in the 2024 GOP presidential race, with 13.4% national support compared to 57.9% for former President Donald Trump, per the latest RealClearPolitics aggregate.



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‘DeSantis Airways’ t-shirts tout Florida governor’s Israel flights

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