When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently tweeted an image of what he said was a new state license plate featuring a coiled rattlesnake and the words “Don’t Tread on Me,” he said it sends a “clear message to out-of-state cars.”
The imagery of the Revolutionary War-era Gadsden flag dates to Benjamin Franklin but has, for many, come to symbolize a far-right extremist ideology and the “Stop the Steal” movement that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results.
“‘Love, love, love’ Florida Gov. DeSantis new license plate; ‘Don’t Tread on Me!'” one Twitter user said. “This is how we feel about our great country..that is right now being systematically destroyed by the radical Left.”
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