SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Florida Governor Ron DeSantis visited San Francisco on Tuesday as part of his 2024 presidential campaign and had terse words for the city."We saw people defecating on the street, we saw people using heroin, we saw people smoking crack cocaine," DeSantis said in a video posted on Twitter. "And you look around, the city is not vibrant anymore, it’s really collapsed due to leftist policies."DeSantis’ harsh critiques of San Francisco come at a time when the city is facing record-breaking levels of overdose deaths and office vacancies.
San Francisco, like many other cities across the Bay Area, is also facing a record-setting budget deficit. The city has also faced two mass shootings this month.
Standing at the corner of Geary Blvd. and Hyde Street with a heap of trash behind him, DeSantis claimed that many Californians have fled due to the "leftist policies," and criticized the city's leadership. "They are doing it wrong here," DeSantis said, adding that criminals aren't adequately prosecuted compared to other parts of the country.
DeSantis also expressed his dismay at the sight of numerous boarded-up businesses and what he described as "riffraff" roaming the streets."No wonder why we’ve had so many people move from San Francisco to Florida over the last few years," DeSantis said.