Florida's attorney general says DeSantis suspending an elected state attorney is 'democracy in action'

• On Wednesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended Democratic State Attorney Monique Worrell.
• It was the second time in just over a year DeSantis has suspended an elected, Democrat-identifying state attorney.
• Florida's Attorney General, Ashley Moody, called Worrell's suspension, "democracy in action."

Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody praised Gov. Ron DeSantis on Thursday after he suspended an elected state attorney, calling it "democracy in action."

The presidential candidate suspended State Attorney Monique Worrell, a Democrat, on Wednesday for a "neglect of duty and incompetence" and replaced her with Andrew Bain, a Republican who served as an Orange County Court judge before his new appointment.

While appearing on "Fox & Friends First," Moody was asked if it was controversial that DeSantis singlehandedly removed an elected official from office.

"What I love about this governor is he never walks past a problem," Moody said. "Our constitution requires him when there is an officer that is not doing their job — from either due to malfeasance or incompetence — to take action and remove that elected official. ... And Governor DeSantis said, 'Look, I have a duty here under the Constitution to protect the citizens of Florida. This is a law and order state, and I'm going to do that.'

"In fact," she added, "this is democracy in action."

In response to her suspension, which was the second time DeSantis suspended a Democratic state attorney in just over a year, Worrell said DeSantis is trying to use her "as a tool in his failing and disastrous presidential campaign."

According to an average of polls deemed "major" by FiveThirtyEight, DeSantis is averaging 14.3 percent support, or 39.4 percentage points behind leading candidate former President Donald Trump. As part of a broader "reboot" strategy, DeSantis recently replaced his former campaign manager, Generra Peck, with James Uthmeier, a gubernatorial staffer of his who has no campaign experience.

Worrell said she will "take every legal step to reverse this un-democratic action," however, it's unclear how successful she will be after a fellow state attorney previously suspended by DeSantis for similar reasons failed to get his suspension overturned in court after a federal district judge admitted he didn't have the authority to override DeSantis.