ST. PETERSBURG, FL—Governor Ron DeSantis believes Vice President Kamala Harris is the next-easiest candidate for Republicans to beat in November, prompted by her newly-minted status as the presumptive Democratic nominee after President Biden stepped aside following mental acuity concerns.
However, DeSantis thinks if she "falls on her face", the Democrats will push her out at the Convention next month.
"As a Republican, I wanted them to stick with Biden—I didn't think they would," DeSantis said Wednesday at a St. Pete press conference, referencing his past predictions that Biden would not be the nominee. "If I had to pick someone once Biden [stepped down], I would probably pick Harris to run again. I think that her tenure as VP has been disastrous."
On Sunday, Biden announced via an X post that he was withdrawing from the 2024 race and would endorse Harris in his stead—a move that followed mounting pressure from congressional Democrats concerned about his ability to lead and win. The campaign quickly switched from "Biden for President" to "Harris for President" and subsequently raised a staggering $100 million in 24 hours.
DeSantis acknowledged that "partisanship aside", if someone "performing at Biden's cognitive level" asked for a job at the Mosquito Control Board, he would say no.
As for Harris, the Florida Governor slammed her "open border" policies, swiping at the Axios publication for initially calling her "Biden's border czar" and now claiming that only Republicans believe her to be the "border czar".
"She wants taxpayer-funded health care and benefits for illegal aliens. She doesn't think you should deport somebody—that's Kamala!" he continued, insisting she's more liberal than Biden. As proof, he pointed to CNN commentators arguing that Harris shouldn't pick Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate because he's Jewish.
"What has this country come to—or what has this Democrat party come to—when in order to win the election, they have to virtue signal to the Hamas caucus? That is unacceptable," he said.
DeSantis touched on the growing divide within the Democratic Party over the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. After the militia group Hamas massacred 1,200 Israelis at a music festival on October 7th, taking over 200 hostages in the process, Israel responded with an all-out attack on the Palestinian areas of Gaza and Rafah.
Since then, Democrats have been split on whether to support Israel or Palestine, with many far-left activists setting up encampments on college campuses demanding their universities divest all support to Israel's so-called "genocide" of Palestinians.
"If you have to virtue signal to the Hamas caucus to win an election, you should not win that election," DeSantis added.
