Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Saturday that he found President Joe Biden’s speech to Congress “dystopian” and “really sad to be honest with you.”
“I’ll tell you, it seemed to me to be almost like out of a dystopian novel,” DeSantis told Fox News’ “Watters’ World.” “You see him there, everyone is vaccinated, you have the VP [Kamala Harris] and Speaker [Nancy Pelosi] behind, you know wearing these masks.”
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“You hardly have anybody in the chamber,” DeSantis continued. “It really just sent a I think a message that America is on its back right now.”
The governor said the speech “didn’t exude strength” because of Biden’s “pedestrian delivery,” which DeSantis insisted only highlighted the reality that the president is “not the sharpest tool in the toolbox anymore. I think that was readily apparent so I thought it was really sad to be honest with you.” (RELATED: Senate Republicans To Preempt Biden’s Address By Torching His Performance)
DeSantis also responded to a question about a recent “60 Minutes” report that alleged he chose a firm to assist with the COVID-19 vaccine distribution because it had donated to his campaign. The segment has been widely criticized as unfair — even by some Democratic politicians.
“They smear what they fear and the fact of the matter is, they indulged at the beginning of the COVID pandemic the conceit that New York was the model,” he said, noting that “here we are a year out, clearly states like Florida have performed better across the board: education, COVID mortality, economy, jobs, all these different things … And so I think that they resort to trying to smear people like me and to gaslight viewers with partisan narratives.”
US President Joe Biden addresses a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on April 28, 2021. (Photo by Melina Mara / POOL / AFP) (Photo by MELINA MARA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Prior to Biden delivering his address, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell criticized the president for what he said was preferring liberal policies over unity. “Over a few short months, the Biden administration seems to have given up on selling actual ‘unity’ in favor of catnip for their liberal base, covered with a hefty coat of false advertising.” (RELATED: McConnell, McCarthy Announce Tim Scott Will Deliver Republican Address To The Nation)
Biden presented an upbeat description of an America that is on top of the coronavirus vaccine and ready for the challenges of tomorrow. “America is on the move again,” Biden insisted. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”