Hope Florida: The DeSantis Charity Racket, Funded by You
How We Got Ripped Off—Again—By Our Own Governor
Here we go again. Ron DeSantis—Florida’s grifter-in-chief—is back to doing what he does best: steal from the public, slap a “family values” sticker on it, and dare us to call it what it is. While he should be leading, he’s too busy cooking up his next excuse—his next gaslight. Instead of governing, he’s looting and spinning lies with a smile, conning the public while calling it compassion. Now he’s selling “hope” while pocketing Medicaid money and pretending it’s some moral victory. It’s not. It’s theft in broad daylight, and we’re supposed to thank him for it? Spare us.
Ron and Casey DeSantis took $10 million that was supposed to help Florida’s sick and struggling—money from a Medicaid fraud settlement—and handed it over to Hope Florida, a PR stunt dressed up as charity, run by Casey herself.
This wasn’t extra money lying around. It came from a $67 million Medicaid settlement after Centene overbilled the state. That money should’ve gone straight back to Medicaid. Instead, they rerouted $10 million to Casey’s foundation. And then? $8.5 million of it ended up in political committees backing Ron. Medicaid money, turned into campaign cash. They didn’t mismanage it. They engineered it—straight-up looting public funds to boost their brand.
Launched by Casey DeSantis in 2021, Hope Florida claims to help Floridians become more self-sufficient by connecting them with community resources like faith-based groups, nonprofits, and state services. Through so-called “Hope Navigators,” it targets groups like single parents, foster youth, veterans, and people with disabilities. Sounds noble—until you follow the money.
According to a draft IRS Form 990, the foundation claimed only $40,000 in charitable disbursements during its first reported year, despite receiving hundreds of thousands in donations from major companies like Centene, Tampa Electric, and others. (Tampa Bay Times, April 19, 2025)
Worse yet? That report didn’t even include the $10 million donation from Centene received in October 2024. (Politico, April 9, 2025)
So while they handed out next to nothing in actual support, they were sitting on a pile of Medicaid settlement money. Money that, as we now know, largely ended up in political accounts tied to Ron’s allies.
DeSantis used $615,000 of our tax dollars to fly 49 migrants from Texas—not Florida—to Martha’s Vineyard in a staged political stunt. That was just one slice of a $12 million fund set aside for more of these headline-grabbing schemes. After public backlash? He asked for $10 million more to keep it going. This wasn’t policy—it was theater.
At the same time, he was crisscrossing the country chasing the presidency on our dime. $8.8 million in taxpayer money for travel and security in one year. Over $13 million across two years—all so he could shake hands in Iowa and fail embarrassingly on the national stage. Then he passed a law to hide where he went. We paid the bill, and now we can’t even ask where it went.
And when people asked why Casey’s “charity” got $10 million meant for Medicaid? They called it a “blessing.”
No, Ron. That was public money. You gave it to your wife. Then it ended up with political operatives. That’s not a blessing, that’s a scam.
Floridians aren’t getting hope. We’re getting robbed. Lied to. And above all—gaslit. Stop the gaslighting. We see exactly what you’re doing, even your fellow Republicans are getting tired of you political ambitions. While the first couple of Florida smile for the cameras and sell us a fairy tale, the rest of us are left footing the bill.
This isn’t leadership. This is greed with a grin.
Hope Florida isn’t hope—it’s a heist. And we’re done paying for it.
If this infuriates you, don’t sit quietly. Share this. Talk to your neighbors. Demand answers from your representatives. Call your state legislators and ask what they’re doing to hold the DeSantises accountable. We deserve better—and we have to fight for it.
Make your voice heard. Enough is enough.