Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis blamed President Joe Biden’s “ineptitude” for the recent deaths of 13 U.S. service members, feeding a weekslong public spat between the two politicians.
DeSantis addressed his recent public quarrels with the administration during a fundraising event in Nebraska for Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, saying the beef distracted Biden from his duties as commander in chief in Afghanistan to the point of being derelict.
“If you watch Biden, he always has to talk about Florida, loves talking about things that we’re doing down there,” DeSantis said on Sunday. “If he spent a little less time talking about Florida and more time doing his job as commander in chief, we might not have 13 service members who were killed in action in Afghanistan because of his ineptitude and dereliction of duty.”
An ISIS suicide bomber killed 11 marines, a Navy medic, and an Army staff sergeant on Aug. 26 as the military worked to evacuate U.S. citizens and other allies from Afghanistan. The attack signified an escalation in the already harsh condemnation aimed at Biden’s withdrawal by numerous Republicans. Members of the GOP have repeatedly called for Biden’s resignation or removal from office.
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DeSantis also said Biden, who has urged the governor to “get out of the way” of the federal government’s coronavirus response, “obsesses” over what’s going on in Florida.
The governor’s pandemic strategy of outlawing proof-of-vaccination requirements and masking among schoolchildren has drawn the ire of the Biden administration, which just introduced federal vaccine mandates and which recommends universal indoor masking.
“My message from Florida is this: When Joe Biden violates the Constitution, when Joe Biden attacks the jobs of Floridians and Americans, when Joe Biden targets the livelihood of Florida families and American families, I am fighting back against him,” DeSantis said.
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DeSantis’s national presence and ongoing fundraising efforts, including appearances in presidential battleground states such as Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, have fed speculation and reporter questions about whether he is planning a bid for the White House. DeSantis, who has said he plans to run for reelection as governor in 2022, shot down that notion last week.
“All the speculation about me is purely manufactured,” he said. “I just do my job, you know, we work hard. Obviously, our state has led on a lot of things,” he said. “I hear all this stuff, and honestly, it’s nonsense.”
