Will Witt interviewing Gov. DeSantis in August, 2023. Credit: Screengrab via Florida Standard/YouTube

The Hillsborough County Republican Party’s upcoming annual Reagan Dinner will have some big name conservatives in attendance, including a U.S. Senator, a DeSantis appointed State Attorney, and a right-wing influencer who not long ago was caught on video joking about sexual assault.

A flyer for the Hillsborough GOP’s Oct. 13 Reagan Day “Denim and Diamonds Bar-B-Que” event shows that Florida Sen. Rick Scott and District 13 State Attorney Susan Lopez are listed as guest speakers, and the master of ceremonies will be former PragerU contributor Will Witt.

In a now-deleted December 2019 Snapchat video obtained by Mediaite, Witt is seen saying “Yo, rape is hilarious,” while staring at the camera and holding a woman’s face down in his lap.

According to the publication, the video was filmed in West Palm Beach, Florida, where a Turning Point USA conference was being held at the time.

Known as a popular conservative “influencer,” Witt is a college dropout and also a well-documented anti-LGBT, white nationalist, who has played up the racist “Great Replacement Theory” and “White Lives Matter” talking points.

It’s unclear exactly why Hillsborough County GOP selected Witt as its event host, or if it was aware of his past comments. Though it is worth noting that Witt is currently touring behind his book “Do Not Comply,” and he also scored a string of sit-down interviews with Florida governor and poll-tanking presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.

Over the years, Witt rose to moderate conservative fame due to his short, man-on-the-street-style, videos that involve visiting college campuses and “owning the libs.” He currently runs a website called The Florida Standard, which hasn’t disclosed its funding and has been accused of acting as a pro-DeSantis propaganda mill.

Coincidently, Witt’s publication was reportedly involved with the removal of former Hillsborough state attorney Andrew Warren, who DeSantis suspended in August of 2022 because of his personal beliefs regarding abortion and transgender health care.

From Politico:

According to NeimanLab, a top aide to DeSantis sent a draft of a public records request last year to a reporter at the Florida Standard, who turned around and submitted it. The request zeroed in on messages involving Andrew Warren, a liberal Tampa prosecutor DeSantis had ousted in a controversial move. Around the same time, that staffer texted colleagues a thread about another development involving Warren’s suspension: “Will’s team can focus on this one, we’ll put a nail in the coffin.”

Shortly after this, Susan Lopez was installed as Hillsborough new, un-elected state attorney.

Creative Loafing Tampa Bay reached out to Lopez, Scott and Hillsborough GOP Chair Dana Galen for comment, and will update this story if they get back to us. We did not reach out to Witt for comment, mostly because white nationalist trolls do not act in good faith and should not be given platforms.

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