Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) just called President Joe Biden “a doddering, quasi-senile president,” the Daily Wire reports.
Bullseye.
“I say what I mean . . . mean what I say”
DeSantis’s remark came on Tuesday during an appearance on Fox News Radio. There, host Guy Benson asked DeSantis whether he considers himself to be “a threat” to the Democrats’ “power.”
“The slings and arrows from Democratic politicians, from the national media, from the White House,” Benson said. “I mean, you have been called out from the podium by the president himself. My conclusion is they see you as a threat to their power. Are they right to see you as a threat nationally?”
DeSantis replied, “well, look, I mean, I think if you look at what we’ve done to fight back against Brandon so far, you know, we succeed.”
That’s when DeSantis dropped this one-liner: “I mean the contrast between a doddering, quasi-senile president who has to have his press team clean up his remarks after every time he opens his mouth versus somebody like me who’s out there — I’m very direct, I say what I mean, I mean what I say, I lead and I get things done.”
DeSantis went on to claim that people around the world are now looking at Florida, under his leadership, “as the new citadel of freedom” because they know that they aren’t going to get it from Biden.
There’s more
DeSantis also took aim at California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) during the interview.
Newsom has been among those Democrats to go after DeSantis. In January, for example, Newsom criticized DeSantis for his hands-off approach to the coronavirus pandemic as well as for his opposition to left-wing policies for children, saying, “I do not look for inspiration to that particular governor, not on the pandemic, not on other policy including the absurdity that was his woke initiative and the laughability around stopping something that doesn’t exist, Critical Race Theory.”
Benson asked DeSantis how he would respond to this kind of criticism from Newsom.
DeSantis replied: “Well, first I would say how many people are moving from his state, fleeing to come to mine for freedom versus vice-versa? And I guarantee you we win in the net — in migration, people are leaving California in numbers we’ve never seen because of his failed policies.”
DeSantis also addressed Newsom’s claim that Florida’s coronavirus approach led to a higher death toll, saying, “if you look at excess mortality, California’s had a higher percentage of excess mortality since COVID started than Florida — so that includes COVID, but it’s not limited.”
