Ron DeSantis was faced with one of the left's favorite talking points on Tuesday, being asked about a supposed rise in "Islamophobia." The question was framed around the idea that it's just as big of a problem as antisemitism. As always, DeSantis was prepared. 

In response, the Florida governor lit into the reporter, not just with rhetoric, but with facts. The latter is essentially kryptonite for modern journalists. You push back even a little against their false premises, and they melt. 

Apparently pro-Hamas journo: "You've talked a lot about protecting Jewish schools... what about the increase in violence to Muslims and Muslim schools?"@GovRonDeSantis: "Are those students being chased for their lives on... universities?"

Watch his full response: pic.twitter.com/U0EFe84e8c

— Jeremy Redfern (@JeremyRedfernFL) December 5, 2023

DESANTIS: Yeah, that is not true. They are not experiencing similar threats. I don't see how you can look at what's going on...are those students being chased for their lives in some of these universities around the country? They had the pro-Israel rally on Washington, D.C. I didn't see any hate there. I saw American flags, I saw Israel flags. I saw that. I think that's a totally false equivalence, and that's what Biden has done. Biden has responded to the unprecedented antisemitic fervor around the world, and even in this country, he's responded by saying that the real problem is Islamophobia. 

They are not the same things. That's just not what's happening like it's happening here in the United States and in Florida. Obviously, we have areas that are targeted. So I don't think those are the same, and I think that there's one vein of hate that is predominating over all others right now, and that is antisemitism. 

And yes, it's way worse, from what we've seen, since October 7th, and I think even people that were very concerned about this issue would have thought before. A lot of people have been surprised at that, but even that being said, the number of, the percentage of crimes against people based on identity, Jews always lead that, in American and around the world, but in America, not even close, there's not even a close second. That's just the fact of it.

I've touched on this in several articles. The height of gaslighting is to pretend that antisemitic attacks are on par with "Islamophobic" attacks. The actual numbers are not even close. Antisemitic attacks are somewhere around five times more likely to occur than anti-Muslim attacks. In fact, anti-Muslim attacks are so much rarer that they barely rank above anti-Catholic attacks. 

At this point, every piece of evidence we have says that the dynamic not only remains the same but that the gap has widened. Have there been some attacks against Muslims since October 7th? Yes, but the mere existence of any attacks does not denote statistical relevance when compared to antisemitism.

As DeSantis pointed out, we aren't seeing videos of Muslims being chased in schools or beaten on the streets. It's not Muslim shops that are being surrounded by protesters. Bringing up Islamophobia is simply a dodge to avoid talking about the real issue, which is that the far left is inundated with antisemites. 

This is what I like about DeSantis' style in press conferences. It's not that he's an excellent speaker because he's not, but he always knows what he's talking about. No topic is going to surprise him or leave him talking in circles. He's not going to inadvertently offer a defense of his opponents because he otherwise doesn't know what to say. When the reporter brought up Islamophobia, he knew immediately that the numbers were on his side and he brought them up. 

Further, he wasn't afraid to say it. A lot of Republicans would have equivocated in that situation, saying that they denounce all hate or some other mush-mouthed response, giving credence to the reporter's framing. The right way to handle journalists is to always challenge their premises if they aren't true. Do that, and they've got nowhere to go.