Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis made his case for the presidency on Friday at the Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner.
A whole slate of the 2024 GOP candidates spoke before a sold-out crowd of over 1,000 people in Des Moines. DeSantis immediately came out of the gate swinging with jokes.
DeSantis slammed President Joe Biden’s fitness for the job, joking that he would send the president “back to his basement in Delaware on a permanent vacation.”
He also poked fun at the recent unsolved cocaine scandal in the White House, saying that a similar incident would not happen under his administration. “I can promise you this, in my White House there will be no cocaine allowed in the White House,” DeSantis joked.
“And look, my son’s only five-years-old, so he’s not going to be lining his pockets with money from foreign governments. So don’t worry about that,” the governor said, taking a swipe at the allegations regarding Hunter Biden’s business deals.
DeSantis added that he believes the “country is in decline.” He said that Joe Biden is the “custodian” of America’s decline. He encouraged Republicans to take a more proactive approach to reversing America’s “decline.”
“To do that requires vision. It requires courage and it requires leadership,” DeSantis said.
He then rattled off a list of his accomplishments as governor of Florida, including expanding Second Amendment rights, advancing pro-life policies, strengthening parents’ rights, lowering crime rates, and eliminating critical race theory from schools. He also highlighted his state’s COVID policies, which included defying Dr. Anthony Fauci’s suggestions for masks and lockdowns. (RELATED: ‘Punished By The State: Megyn Kelly Presses DeSantis On His War Against Disney, Bud Light)
DeSantis said that as president he would “repeal Bidenomics” to help the middle class, institute a balanced budget amendment, and pursue energy independence. He vowed to solve the border crisis by building a border wall, sending the military to the border, and use lethal force against Mexican drug cartels.