Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held his first presidential campaign in Iowa, where he criticized President Joe Biden’s debt ceiling deal with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Speaking to a packed crowd at the Eternity Church in Clive, DeSantis humorously suggested that Biden’s time in the Oval Office had been tantamount to a permanent vacation.
The Florida governor stated that the country was “going in the wrong direction. We can see it, and we can feel it.”
“It’s great for me to report that our great American comeback starts by sending Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware. “I mean, he’s spent so much of his time as president on vacation, we might as well make it permanent,” DeSantis said, according to New York Post.
“Our Great American Comeback begins in the Hawkeye State. We will send Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware,” DeSantis said in a tweet. “Casey and I are grateful for the support!”
He emphasized that “leadership is not about entertainment” or “virtue signaling,” but delivering “results.”
DeSantis highlighted the accomplishments of his administration in Florida, including the signing of “the heartbeat bill [with] the strongest pro-life protections in modern Florida history.”
He also criticized the recent debt ceiling deal, warning that the nation was “careening towards bankruptcy” and that it green lit excessive borrowing and inflated COVID-era spending.
“Our nation was careening towards bankruptcy before the debt deal, and it will still be careening towards bankruptcy after this debt deal,” he said.
Following a glitchy campaign launch on Twitter Spaces last week, DeSantis delivered a more conventional stump speech on Tuesday. The campaign launch proved to be a financial success, with DeSantis’s team raising a record- $8.2 million in the first 24 hours after the announcement.
As DeSantis sets his sights on the presidency, he faces formidable competition from former President Donald Trump. Recent polls indicate a significant lead for Trump. Even betting odds favor Trump for the GOP nomination.
Just before DeSantis took the stage on Tuesday night, the Trump campaign fired an email criticizing the Florida governor as “A Failure For Iowa And Farmers.” Trump’s team also called DeSantis a “creature of the swamp,” stated the report.
DeSantis is still trailing the former president in the polls for the GOP nomination as Trump faces legal hurdles on his path for victory.
Produced in association with Benzinga
Edited by Alberto Arellano and Sterling Creighton Beard
