The state of Florida remains a cesspool for some of the conservative movement’s most virulent racism and xenophobia.

As Republicans have wedded themselves to the Israeli government amid its ongoing bombardment of Gaza — devastation that a United Nations panel has called a genocide — some in the party, especially in Florida, have ramped up their attacks on Muslims.

In recent years, Reps. Randy Fine and Brian Mast have arguably become faces of the Sunshine State’s dark bigotry with their remarks about Muslims and Palestinians, while Florida officials — such as Gov. Ron DeSantis and Attorney General James Uthmeier — have used their offices to launch illiberal attacks on Muslim people and groups who advocate on their behalf.

These attacks continued Wednesday, when DeSantis officially declared the Council on American-Islamic Relations a terrorist organization. There is no proof supporting this designation, but CAIR, much like the anti-racist Southern Poverty Law Center, has long been targeted by conservatives.

The Miami Herald reported that CAIR has sued Florida over the designation, which DeSantis said he was authorized to make thanks to a new state law that has been described by critics as an assault on free speech. After its passage, I explained how the law aligns with our country’s sordid legacy of white officials targeting civil rights groups known for defending nonwhite people.

CAIR says its mission is to “enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.” Among the other groups DeSantis designated as terrorist organizations are antifa, the amorphous leftist movement for people who oppose fascism.

DeSantis, who has downplayed the severity of the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection and faced bipartisan backlash over his silence on neo-Nazi demonstrations in his state, clearly has questionable judgment on what constitutes a terroristic threat. After all, top law enforcement officials from both the first Trump administration and the Biden administration were in agreement that white supremacists were among the top threats to national security, a reality that the second Trump administration has tried to downplay.

But DeSantis is nonetheless trying to impose his deranged worldview in ways that stand to threaten liberals — and, particularly, those who stand in support of Muslims.

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