Gov. Ron DeSantis Blames (((New Yorkers))) for Bringing COVID to Florida

Florida’s Republican Governor, Ron DeSantis, suggested that his state’s outbreak is the result of New Yorkers traveling to Florida, despite the fact that, at the time, the beaches in his state were still open and full of people.

There is a decades-long history in the United States of referring to “New York” as a euphemism for Jews. In a debate during the 2016 Republican Presidential Primary, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was widely criticized as antisemitic for making a derisive comment about “New York values.” The prevalence of this trope was even referenced in pilot episode of The West Wing: