Casey DeSantis shrugs off ‘America’s Karen’ attack line

Florida first lady Casey DeSantis snapped back Thursday at left-wing critics who have dubbed her “America’s Karen,” “Walmart Melania” and other disparaging monikers.

“One thing that the corporate media did get right about me, I do shop at Walmart,” Casey joked alongside her husband, Gov. Ron DeSantis, during an interview on “Fox & Friends.”

“When they come after you and they’re just calling you names — that means they don’t want to litigate the merits of their case,” she added. “They don’t want to have that conversation. They want to call you names.”

Casey DeSantis has begun taking a more active role on the campaign trail, often stumping beside her husband, and launching the “Mamas for DeSantis” initiative earlier this month.

As the former local TV news anchor’s profile has risen, so too has the number of her detractors. One anonymously sourced piece published by Politico in May referenced a quote by longtime Donald Trump ally Roger Stone, who asked last fall: “Have you ever noticed how much Ron DeSantis’ wife, Casey, is like Lady Macbeth?”

“They want to try to get you to back down, but I can tell you the number one thing, we will not back down when it comes to our family,” Casey DeSantis added Thursday.  

Earlier this month, MSNBC analyst David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida, hurled the “America’s Karen” epithet at the 43-year-old during a segment on the network’s “Saturday Show with Jonathan Capehart.”

“Casey DeSantis is a fairly compelling political figure in Florida, and now nationally. For many, she’s the brighter side to Florida’s angry governor. For others, she’s become America’s Karen,” Jolly said at the time.

Ron DeSantis fired back at that broadside, telling Fox Business Network’s “Varney & Co.” earlier this month: “My wife is an incredibly strong first lady of Florida, a fantastic mother and a great wife, and that threatens the left.”

During her interview with the cable news giant Thursday, the mother of three and breast cancer survivor also held back tears as she opened up about her diagnosis.

“A really hard part for me was that I had a 4-, 3-year-old and a 1-year-old in the house. And it’s like very, very difficult when you look at your children, and they don’t know,” Casey DeSantis recounted. 

“Through God’s grace, I’m here. And this guy helped me more than you will ever realize,” she added, motioning at her husband.

Casey DeSantis publicly announced her diagnosis in October 2021 and revealed in March 2022 that she was cancer-free.