GOP Chair Caught on Camera Saying 'We Need to Extinguish the Left'

A Florida Republican running for Congress was captured on camera saying "we need to extinguish the left."

Anthony Sabatini, the chair of the Lake County GOP, made the remarks during a speech he gave to the Florida Teenage Republicans Youth Summit in Leesburg on June 17. This is according to videos posted on Twitter by Lauren Windsor, the creator of political web show The Undercurrent.

Anthony Sabatini, chair of the Lake County Republican party, in an official portrait, posing before the U.S. flag. He has been captured on camera saying "we need to extinguish the left." Florida House of Representatives

Sabatini, an ally of former President Donald Trump, is a ex-member of the Florida House of Representatives who is challenging GOP Rep. Daniel Webster in the state's 11th congressional district. During his speech, Sabatini can be heard calling for the "defunding of government schools" and "gutting" of government agencies, in the videos posted on Twitter by Windsor.

NEW -- > Lake County GOP Chair and congressional candidate Anthony Sabatini: "We need to extinguish the Left."

Sabatini's vision includes "defunding government schools and going to 100% private schools" and "gutting the FBI like a fish."

Stay tuned for #TheUndercurrent... pic.twitter.com/DgwujXGlz2 — Lauren Windsor (@lawindsor) July 12, 2023

"The only thing that's good enough is completely and totally destroying the political left in this country. Destroy it," Sabatini said.

"I'm talking about defunding government agencies, defunding bureaucrats, defunding government schools and going 100 percent private school like Florida's making gestures at right now.

"Let's make sure that bill that just passed, House Bill 1, gets fully implemented in good faith, and we don't have government schools, and we don't have strings attached to our private education models that are about to emerge here in the state of Florida at a much-faster rate," Sabatini added.

House Bill 1, signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, will allow K-12 students in the state to get taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools.

Newsweek has contacted Sabatini's campaign, the Lake County GOP and DeSantis' office for comment via email.

"Let's truly beat the left at the federal level. What does that look like? Gutting the DOJ [Department of Justice] like a fish and defunding these government agencies," Sabatini said, eliciting cheers. He later added that Republicans should push for a government shutdown. This "would be considered a major accomplishment by the Republican Party," he said, prompting applause from the audience.

"I think we should actually push for a government shutdown. I think we actually need to defund and destabilize this terror that's happening to Washington, D.C. that's quite literally aimed at us and our families and our children and everything that's going on here," Sabatini added.

Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis marches in a Fourth of July parade, July 4, 2023, in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire. He has signed a bill to allow K-12 students in the state to get taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools. Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Sabatini went on to say how "woke this country got, or at least felt, in 2018, 2019, especially 2020." But he added that "the pendulum has swung" and Republicans "need to take advantage of it."

DeSantis, who is seeking the Republican presidential nomination, "should not be [campaigning for 2024] in Iowa," Sabatini said. "He should be back in Florida in a special session, passing more laws."

He added: "The truth of the matter is, we need to go so much further. We need to go so much further with our laws at the border. We need to extinguish the left."

Sabatini responded to Windsor's tweet with a single word: "BASED!"

Newsweek has contacted the Florida Federation of Young Republicans for comment via email.