Ron DeSantis makes plans to regulate “woke CEOs”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) gave a briefing on Wednesday detailing his plan to regulate what he refers to as “woke CEOs.” In front of a banner reading “Government of Laws, Not Woke CEOs,” DeSantis said “The leveraging of corporate power to impose an ideological agenda on society represents an alarming trend.” 

“Do we govern ourselves through our constitution and through our elections or do we have these masters of the universe occupying these commanding heights of society?” DeSantis said during the press conference, covered by Florida news outlet The Free Press. “For every master of the universe who’s prattling on about, you know, no emissions and all this stuff, I don’t see very many of them giving up their private jets,” he furthered.

“Gov. Ron DeSantis slams ‘woke capital’ and ESG, says Forbes in a Tweet, along with footage from the briefing. 

The three main components of DeSantis’ plan are as such:

Prohibit big banks, credit card companies, and money transmitters from discriminating against customers for their religious, political, or social beliefs.

Prohibit State Board of Administration (SBA) fund managers from considering ESG factors when investing the state’s money.

Require SBA fund managers to only consider maximizing the return on investment on behalf of Florida’s retirees.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

“From Wall Street banks to massive asset managers and big tech companies, we have seen the corporate elite use their economic power to impose policies on the country that they could not achieve at the ballot box,” DeSantis said on Wednesday. “Through the actions I announced today, we are protecting Floridians from woke capital and asserting the authority of our constitutional system over ideological corporate power.”