Only a short time prior to the announcement of his run for Florida governor, U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis accepted a paid trip to attend a conference featuring a cast of extremely racist, hateful speakers, reports theThose speakers included alt-right provocateurs such as Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes, former Trump advisor Sebastian Gorka and former White House chief strategist Steven Bannon, among others. Some of the platforms these speakers have touched on in the past include defending a candidate accused of child molestation, suggesting the killing of Muslims and referencing how women are less likely to be in leadership roles because of "biological causes."Florida's own U.S. Rep. Brian Mast was also in attendance, per the website Right Wing Watch According to financial disclosure forms, the David Horowitz Freedom Center, established by hard-lined conservative David Horowitz, handled the $1,218 tab for DeSantis’ two-night stay at a luxury beachfront hotel in Palm Beach in November. DeSantis was there to speak on national security issues.Who is Horowitz? A close friend of U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and other members of the Trump administration – arguably the administration’s most vile, too – Horowitz is often remembered for a line he wrote in a 1999 Salon article.The question Horowitz posed in the piece: “If blacks are oppressed in America, why isn’t there a black exodus?”The Southern Poverty Law Center, which keeps tab on hate groups and white supremacy across the country, has said Horowitz’s conferences “range from single day presentations given by anti-Muslim fear mongers in Horowitz’s network to extravagant weekend getaways that convene government officials with far-right thought leaders and activists.”Read the full report here