A recent video promoted online by the DeSantis War Room — a presence associated with the Florida governor who’s now running for the Republican presidential nomination for 2024 — featured brief shots of a character from the popular television show “Peaky Blinders.” A leading team behind that show has now issued a public rebuke of the governor’s team for its unauthorized use of that footage in Ron’s campaign promotions.
The message that DeSantis’s promoters were trying to get going isn’t particularly profound. In short, the video compares Ron’s record of attacking LGBTQ+ rights to Trump’s occasional openness, and in ostensible support of making DeSantis look cool, images of that “Peaky Blinders” character flash on screen. It’s lowbrow nonsense designed to appeal to… somebody.
“On behalf of the partners of Peaky Blinders — Steven Knight, Cillian Murphy, Caryn Mandabach Productions, Tiger Aspect Productions and Banijay Rights — we confirm the footage of Tommy Shelby’s character used within the video posted by Ron DeSantis’ campaign was obtained without permission or official licence. We do not support nor endorse the video’s narrative and strongly disapprove of the use of the content in this manner,” a statement posted online said. Those remarks were shared via an official Twitter account associated with the show, which is available in the U.S. on Netflix.
Considering Ron’s own resistance towards the truth, it’s even more relevant to point out that he’s probably not going to win the GOP presidential nomination. At this point, his public image among relevant groups has sunk to the level that it’s not even clear he’d do that great if Donald for some reason suddenly exited the race, though in the past DeSantis has consistently been the runner-up in polling. Now, a recent survey showed Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman, not that far off from Ron’s position in the results, so it’s not going great. Ron’s recent schedule has seen him walking in parades in New Hampshire with tiny groups alongside him and getting soaked in rain while trying to distinguish himself from the contenders polling in the low single digits… so, again, it’s not going great!
— Peaky Blinders (@ThePeakyBlinder) July 5, 2023
