a democratic state prosecutor in florida is hitting back after being sus spended by governor and 2024 white house hopeful ron desantis. nbc national correspondent gabe gutierrez has that story. reporter: state attorney monique worrell is off the job, sus spended by florida governor ron desantis. she s now firing back calling him a weak dictator who s targeting her to prop up his presidential campaign. this is absolutely a political hit job. i think that the governor s campaign is failing and that he needed something to put him in the national spotlight. reporter: worrell is a progressive prosecutor in orlando who was keen on criminal just reform and was backed by a committee back backed by george soros. monique worrell s has been
criminally and fundamentally derelict. reporter: the police union has criticized worrell for being soft on crime and the local sheriff praised desantis move. this governor has always put the victims has always put the law-abiding citizens ahead of the criminals. reporter: worrell s performance frequently slammed by republicans. just days ago two orlando officers were shot and wounded by a suspect who d been released on bail. worrell tells us she had no say over his release. governor desantis is saying you re not just enforcing the law, that you re abusing prosecutorial discretion. your response? it s just not true. it s not based in fact. crime is down in orange and osiola counties, not up. and that decrease has happened since i took office 2 1/2 years ago. that was gabe gutierrez. and monique worrell will be a
anti-democratic step, that as the state attorney said in her press conference, her views and ideology don t matter here because the people already endorsed them with their vote three years ago. understood. ms. worrell, aside from speaking out on platforms like this, do you have any other options? are there legal options? how does this i understand you intend to run again. how does this change what you re fighting for in the state of florida? so with your question toward our legal options, we have assembled a legal team, and they are currently reviewing the executive order and making determinations about what the next steps are legally. i filed for re-election in march, and that hasn t changed. i am still running for re-election. what i m running for hasn t changed. the people voted for it by an overwhelming majority, by 67% of the vote i won in 2020.
so as to constitute both neglect of duty and incompetence. reporter: the police union criticized worrell for being soft on crime, and today a local sheriff praised desantis move. this governor has always put the victims, has always put the law-abiding citizens ahead of the criminals. reporter: her performance slammed. two orlando officers were shot and wounded by a suspect who had been released on bail. worrell tells us she had no say over his release. governor desantis is saying that you re just not enforcing the law, that you re abusing prosecutorial discretion. your response? it s not true. crime is down in orange and oseola counties, not up, and that decrease has happened since i took office 2 1/2 years ago. reporter: this is the second time desantis has suspended a democratic prosecutor. tonight worrell tells us she s reviewing her legal options. gabe gutierrez, thank you. an american nurse and her daughter are free tonight in haiti almost two weeks after
this morning. it s that giant that finally kind of out of its slumber when it s poked and prod awakens. and i m looking forward to introducing it to more people across the country. i will remind people, i m old enough to remember when both ohio and florida were swing states. any state can be a swing state if enough people are willing to change their mind. that is just the way it is. exactly. connie schultz, thank you very much. and still ahead, florida man ron desantis turns democracy on its head again. subverting the will of the people by suspending a democratically elected state attorney because she doesn t like how she knows and follows the law. state attorney monique worrell joins me straight ahead. worrell joins me straight ahead.