Floridians “are not buying what Joe Biden is selling,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) told reporters ahead of the president’s abortion-focused visits to Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday.
“I hear that Joe Biden is on his way to Florida this afternoon, and all I can say is this is a guy who has intentionally opened the borders of this country and caused great harm,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Naples.
Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event at Runway Cafe at Greenville Downtown Airport in Greenville, South Carolina, US, on Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024. DeSantis finished second in the Iowa Republican caucuses on Monday, defying expectations of a weaker showing after polls showed the Florida governor slipping into third place ahead of the Iowa contest. Photographer: Sam Wolfe/Bloomberg via Getty Images
“His policies have caused families to suffer with higher prices and higher interest rates, and now he’s coming down to try to support a constitutional amendment that will mandate abortion up until the moment of birth, that will eliminate parental consent for minors, and that is written in a way that is intentionally designed to deceive voters,” the governor continued. “So all I can tell you is Floridians are not buying what Joe Biden is selling, and in November, we’re going to play an instrumental role in sending him back to Delaware where he belongs.”
DeSantis responds to Biden’s expected Tampa visit
“Floridians are not buying what Joe Biden is selling […]”
“we’re going to play an instrumental role in sending him back to Delaware where he belongs.” pic.twitter.com/ezvajZVhVP
— Florida’s Voice (@FLVoiceNews) April 23, 2024
Biden spoke at Hillsborough Community College’s Dale Mabry campus and blamed former President Donald Trump for the Supreme Court’s 2022 Dobbs decision, which overturned Roe v. Wade, ending an invented constitutional “right” to abortion, and sent the issue back to the individual states. Abortion has been the Biden campaign’s number-one priority ahead of November, with Democrats hoping to galvanize women and young voters, while distracting from Biden’s border and economic failures.
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Biden visited Florida specifically to galvanize voters before a six-week abortion limit takes effect next month. The Florida Supreme Court upheld the state’s 15-week abortion restriction earlier this month, which cleared the way for the six-week restriction to take effect. At the same time, the Florida Supreme Court also allowed a proposed amendment that would enshrine the “right” to abortion in the state constitution to appear on the ballot in November.
After the two state Supreme Court decisions dropped, Democrats descended on the state, with Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez declaring Florida a now “winnable” state. Former President Donald Trump notably led the state by 370,000 votes in 2020, and Republicans boasted a massive 854,000-plus voter registration advantage over Democrats in the state as of early March.
Besides blaming Trump for enabling the Florida law, Biden criticized his opponent for a recent decision by the Arizona Supreme Court upholding an 1864 law that restricts nearly all abortions, and an Alabama Supreme Court decision classifying embryos used in in vitro fertilization (IVF) as unborn babies.
Biden further claimed that Trump would sign a federal abortion ban into law if he is elected, despite the fact that Trump has said he believes the abortion issue should be left to individual states.
RELATED: Donald Trump Reveals Abortion Position, Says States Should Decide
“Don’t think he’s [not] making a deal right now with MAGA extremists to ban nationwide abortion in every single state — because he’s making it,” Biden said.
“But know this, as long as I have the power of the presidency, it’s never going to happen. I mean it,” he added. “If Congress ever passes a ban, I will veto that ban. Elect the Democratic Congress — Kamala and I will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.”
Biden joined Florida Democratic Party chairperson Nikki Fried for a small event with activists and union officials after making the 15-minute speech at the college. During that event, Biden — a self-professed Catholic — made the sign of the cross while Fried decried the state’s upcoming six-week abortion limit.
Katherine Hamilton is a political reporter for Breitbart News. You can follow her on X @thekat_hamilton.