During a Fox News interview on Sunday, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) seemed to suggest the country could see Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis run for president in 2024.
DeSantis had just appeared on Fox’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. Asked about the potential screening of domestic travelers and Biden’s executive orders, DeSantis said “this is all political.”
Bartiromo cited reports about Biden’s immigration strategy. The New York Times updated a report last week about migrant families at the southern border, detailing how a new Mexican law, coupled with the Biden administration’s stance towards immigration has seen an influx of migrants. Notably, there are differing border policies between California and Texas.
The New York Times reported:
Health authorities in San Diego have ruled that those crossing into California must remain at the hotel for 10 days before being allowed to go onward. There is no similar quarantine requirement in Texas for migrants who arrive with no coronavirus symptoms, according to volunteers working with the migrants; there, they said, those released by Border Patrol are being allowed to board buses and travel to other destinations.
In the DeSantis interview, Bartiromo commented on immigrants entering the country without being screened. DeSantis replied, “[Biden is] opening the border, he’s letting illegals pour in … This stinks to high heaven. It is a huge contradiction …” He added that he thinks the American people see Biden’s hypocrisy.
As reported by The Daily Wire on Sunday:
DeSantis said that potential domestic travel restrictions placed on Florida by the Biden administration would amount to a “political attack against Florida” and “would be unconstitutional.”
“Florida schools have been open the whole school year,” DeSantis said. “Every parent in Florida has the right to send their child to in-person instruction, every worker has a right to work and earn a living and put food on the table, and every business has a right to operate.”
“And, consequently, our state is doing very well compared to these other states in terms of education and economy. But we also have 26 other states and the District of Columbia that have higher per capita COVID mortality than we do. We have 28 states that have higher per capita cases than we do for the bulk of the pandemic,” he continued. “And if you look right now, states that are always held up by people in Biden’s administration, like New York, have way higher per capita patients hospitalized for COVID right now. So, there’s no basis in medical, there’s no basis in economics, there’s no basis in reality to do this, except to punish a state that is doing it better than what his experts have recommended.”
According to Newsweek, Gaetz said he is “proud” of his governor and “implied the Biden Administration is attempting to disparage [DeSantis] in anticipation of his potential candidacy in 2024.”
Gaetz reportedly told Fox, “What Ron DeSantis didn’t say, which is the truth, is that the Biden folks know that if Donald Trump is not the candidate in 2024, the leader of our movement will be Ron DeSantis.”
“He is a strong potential presidential candidate in 2024, the Biden team knows that, and so they’re trying to somehow cast aspersions on the Florida experience because you know what, throughout America, there’s a lot of Florida envy right now.”
DeSantis has not publicly commented on a potential 2024 run and is up for reelection as governor in 2022.