I saw some weird guy on Twitter this week peddling an unhinged conspiracy theory about liberals secretly plotting to use the Federal Reserve and some unnamed digital currency to prevent Americans from buying firearms and gasoline. We’ve probably all seen assorted oddballs peddling strange ideas online, but this one was a doozy.
Wait, did I say the idea came from some weird guy on Twitter? What I meant to say was that it came from the governor of Florida — who also happens to be a leading (albeit unannounced) candidate for Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
The Miami Herald reported this week that Gov. Ron DeSantis has been directing much of his rhetorical fire of late on the Federal Reserve and its Trump-appointment chairman, Jerome Powell. But it was The Washington Post’s Catherine Rampell who flagged the GOP governor’s amazing recent remarks about the Fed. From Rampell’s column:
Don’t get me wrong. The Federal Reserve has made mistakes in recent years. It’s not immune from criticism, including criticism of its record on financial oversight or inflation. And yet, somehow, it still seems pretty bonkers for a major, supposedly mainstream politician to attack the Federal Reserve for trying to steal your guns. Which is what Florida governor and likely 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis (R) suggested in recent remarks.
That might sound like an exaggeration. It’s not. In remarks that were televised via C-SPAN, the Floridian delivered remarks in Pennsylvania this past weekend that were so odd, I feel like they should’ve come with a fringe-to-English translation guide.
DeSantis began by boasting to his conservative audience that Florida would soon ban “the idea of a central bank digital currency,” adding, “They want the Fed to control a digital dollar,” failing to identify who the nefarious “they” might be.
But then he kept going. “Guess what’ll happen?” the governor said, in high dudgeon. “They’re going to try to…
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