Florida swing voters view Ron DeSantis as too extreme

Some Florida swing voters who former President Donald Trump won over in 2016 say Gov. Ron DeSantis' agenda is too extreme for them.

Driving the news: Axios partner Engagious/Schlesinger conducted two online focus groups last week with 12 Floridians who voted for Donald Trump in 2016, then Joe Biden in 2020.

• One is registered as a Republican, four as independents, and seven as Democrats.

Of note: While a focus group is not a statistically significant sample like a poll, the responses show how some voters are thinking and talking about current events.

The big picture: Some regretted voting for Biden — citing what they called a lack of action and unkept promises— and several said he makes them feel bored, hopeless and apathetic, but none would take Trump back.

• No one in the group wanted DeSantis as president, saying he was more extreme than Trump.

Some called his actions, like ending Disney's self-governing status and removing Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren from office, power plays to appeal to Trump voters.

What they're saying: "He's trying to be like, like the God of Florida instead of being the governor of Florida," one respondent said.

Zoom in: None of the respondents supported Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, dubbed by critics as "Don't Say Gay," or the Stop WOKE Act.

• But they all agreed with the governor's resistance to transgender health care for minors, Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming healthcare for trans adults and transgender women and girls in sports.

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