Ron DeSantis speculated that Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his vice president because she was the ‘best impeachment insurance,’ claiming that no one would prefer her to the current president.
During a campaign stop in South Carolina on Thursday, the Florida governor said he’s not worried about winning the Republican nomination in such a crowded field because he’s there to win it.
Just because Harris is a worse presidential prospect, DeSantis said, doesn’t mean Biden is better.
‘If we hate it, and Biden gets in again – heck, you might as well end up with Kamala as president,’ DeSantis said when an audience member from Augusta, South Carolina, asked if he was worried about winning the primary.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis claims that President Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his vice president because she is the ‘best insurance’ against his impeachment and her becoming chief executive.
‘No matter what he does, nobody wants Kamala,’ DeSantis claimed as an argument for why Biden should never be impeached.
‘You know, when he picked him for VP, a lot of people were like, ‘Oh my God, why did he do that?’ Because, I mean, obviously he has issues,’ the governor continued. ‘But you know, I can understand why he did it, because he could buy the best impeachment insurance money could.’
‘No matter what she does, no one wants Kamala,’ laughs the audience. ‘So that’s kind of where we are with that one.’
Some far-right lawmakers have introduced articles of impeachment to remove President Biden from office — but none have been given much air by the rest of Congress.
DeSantis also said during his stump speech at the start of the event on Thursday that he would fire half the federal government workforce to ‘clean up’ corruption. He then took questions from voters on the campaign trail in South Carolina after criticizing reporters for not doing so.
Debbie, a voter and military veteran, told DeSantis she was worried she might not win the nomination because a crowded field could split voters and lead to another Trump general election.
But DeSantis says he doesn’t share those concerns.
‘If you don’t do your part,’ he said to cheers. ‘The sky is the limit for us. I mean, we can do it. We’ll do it.’
‘Look, I mean, all I can tell you is – people can do whatever they want,’ he added. ‘The only reason I run is to win and fulfill this promise. That is the only reason.’
‘I’m not trying to get my name out there,’ DeSantis said, ‘I’m not looking to get some contribution from one of these media outlets. I don’t worry about it. We race to win and deliver. And that’s really the only reason to run and I feel compelled to do it.’
Florida’s governor says as president he will lead a new era of accountability in Washington, D.C. by making sure federal agencies don’t have an unbalanced amount of centralized power.
“We’re going to reduce the footprint in Washington, DC,” DeSantis said Thursday in remarks to a crowd gathered in North Augusta, South Carolina.
Florida’s governor told President Hall of his plans, ‘We are going to issue an order to all cabinet secretaries to reduce the footprint of their agencies in Washington DC by at least 50%.’ ‘Fire people, attrition, send them on day trips, whatever you want.’
DeSantis told South Carolina voters at a Thursday campaign rally that he would fire 50% of federal government workers if he became president. The governor took several questions from the crowd after reporters criticized him for not speaking publicly to voters.
He concluded: ‘But our power in Washington DC is too concentrated and we have to do something about it.’
DeSantis, who has only been on the campaign trail for less than a month, has drawn criticism from some reporters for not taking questions from voters at his events. The governor on Thursday, however, asked the South Carolina crowd to throw their questions at him after his stump speech in the state’s early primary contest.
Steve Peoples of the Associated Press asked DeSantis why he “doesn’t take questions from voters” when he’s talking to voters and taking pictures.
‘What are you talking about, I’m talking to people here. are you blind?’ DeSantis shot back at the reporter.
‘I’m not blind,’ he replied in an exchange caught on camera by NBC News.
‘So people are talking to me about what they want to talk to me about,’ he added.
The first ‘question’, on Thursday, came from an 85-year-old man who said he just wanted to tell DeSantis that he had support, but that he had no further inquiries.
‘God bless you,’ DeSantis told the man before asking several questions – a Marine Corps veteran; from another law enforcement officer; one from a junior in high school named Drew; One from a mother with a daughter concerned about biological men playing in women’s sports and another from a man who said he’s still on the fence about who he’s voting for in 2024.
One attendee said he was taking part in the comments on behalf of a group of struggling military veterans who hope to decriminalize marijuana. ‘I don’t think we will,’ DeSantis replied pointedly before explaining the negative effects of widespread drug use on children.
But DeSantis’ message is reminiscent of former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign, where he promised to ‘drain the Washington swamp’ through new leadership at federal agencies and the implementation of a cleaning house.
“We need a new era of accountability with these agencies in DC, and we will bring that with me on day one,” DeSantis assured. ‘You’re going to have a new FBI director, you’re going to clean up the Justice Department.’
DeSantis engaged voters in his remarks at a gymnasium in North Augusta, South Carolina, where the scoreboard showed him the two teams tied at 47, the number for the next US president.
‘I want your support, I need your support,’ DeSantis said as he concluded his remarks before taking questions.
After refusing to take audience questions after his first New Hampshire campaign event today, Ron DeSantis attacked a reporter for asking him about it while he was chatting individually with members of the crowd.
Here’s the video via @NBCNews ¿> pic.twitter.com/Z2WtLy0JNj
— Jonathan Allen (@jonallendc) June 1, 2023
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