DeSantis laughs at Democrats’ claims Biden could do well in Florida

Gov. Ron DeSantis scoffed at assertions from Democratic leaders that the political landscape has changed in Florida, giving President Joe Biden a chance at winning the state in November.

Before he said anything in response to a reporter’s question Tuesday, he gave a non-verbal answer: A snort, a laugh and a shaking head.

Clearly, his answer was “no.”

And he suggested it would be great if the Biden campaign spends lots of money in Florida — great for Republicans, that is, because in DeSantis’ view it would be wasted.

Also, he said, the Democrats’ efforts to use the abortion issue — and the state ban on abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy that goes into effect Wednesday — won’t alter the final results.

He first pointed to the significant shift in registered voters in Florida. Democrats were ahead a few years ago; now there are far more registered Republicans.

“When I became governor, this state had almost 300,000 more registered Democrats than Republicans. Today, we have 900,000 more registered Republicans than Democrats. So I mean just in that, just those demographics, I think it’s a very uphill climb,” DeSantis said.

And, he said, Biden’s “failed leadership and failed policies” would make it impossible to overcome that difference.

DeSantis suggested the Democrats are focusing on abortion to distract voters.

“I understand they would try to figure out anything they could to try to, to try to change the dynamic or to try to change the focus from the failed leadership, but they failed on fiscal, they failed on inflation, they failed on interest rates, they failed on the border,” DeSantis said. “And, oh, by the way, is this world more peaceful than it was when (Donald) Trump was president? Not even close.”

DeSantis said, tongue-in-cheek, that he would “welcome Biden-Harris to spend a lot of money in Florida. Light up the airwaves, do it, light it on fire. We are fine with you doing that here. But I can confidently predict that you’ll see Republican victories not just at the top of the ticket but up and down the ballot and I think that’s a good thing.”

Hoping to harness opposition by many voters to abortion restrictions enacted in Florida and elsewhere overturned the decades-long Roe v. Wade opinion, Democrats have asserted they are competitive in Florida.

“Florida continues to be a battleground. We have returned to that status in 2024,” state Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried said in a news conference last week, citing activism around winning ballot access for the abortion-rights amendment and the six-week abortion ban but “because all the work that has been done in our state in the last year and a half, getting back to the basics, talking about issues that are important to the people of our state.”

“We know that we have an opportunity to flip the state because independent voters are breaking for Democrats 65% to 70% in the recent election cycles here in our state, and reproductive rights are taking center stage in this election cycle,” Fried said.

Neither DeSantis nor Fried have perfect political prognostication skills.

Fried thought she would be the 2022 Democratic nominee against DeSantis, but lost the primary. DeSantis thought he would be the 2024 Republican presidential nominee, but was overwhelmed by Trump and dropped out.

DeSantis is correct about the trend in registered voters. In 2018, just after DeSantis narrowly won his first term, there were 257,175 more Democratic voters than Republicans.

In October 2021, the state flipped and the number of registered Republicans surpassed the number of registered Democrats.

As of March 31, there were 892,034 more Republican than Democratic registered voters in the state.

Other issues

DeSantis held multiple news conferences across the state Tuesday to talk about recreation in Florida. In Tampa, he:

— Said the ban on virtually all abortions after the sixth week of pregnancy — something DeSantis signed into law — was good policy, citing the state Supreme Court upholding state restrictions. “The court ruled correctly that being able to provide protections for a baby that has a detectable heartbeat is lawful and constitutional. And I think that that’s a noble effort,” he said.

— Repeated his previous assertion that the proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion rights in the Florida Constitution would not receive the 60% required for passage. As he has before, he called it “really, really extreme,” and that “once (voters) know what this actually means that (the referendum) will be in trouble.”

— Suggested that the proposed constitutional amendment to authorize recreational marijuana isn’t necessary because people can get it via the current medical marijuana system. “We have medical marijuana in Florida. Not everyone that’s getting that medical marijuana card — I mean, you know, they have these back ailments and like I’m not saying none of them are legit, but some of them clearly they’re doing it to get the card. We know that some of this goes on and yet why would we wanna have more?”

— Repeated his oft-cited reason for opposing the marijuana amendment, suggesting that if it passes people would walk down the street and constantly smell marijuana. “I don’t want this state to be reeking of marijuana. We’re doing fine. We don’t need to do that.”

— Condemned pro-Hamas/pro-Palestinian protests taking place at some universities, saying many have gone to far in infringing on others’ rights and made unsafe environments for Jewish students and faculty.

In Florida, he said, “you’re not going to set up a tent city at a university.” He approvingly cited a move last week at Florida State University, where “a relatively small number of, group of students I think were bringing tents on the lawn and they turned the sprinklers on and that was the end of that.”

Fresh Take Florida reported that an FSU spokesperson denied the sprinklers were turned on to shut down the demonstration.

In Tampa and in South Naples, DeSantis said sprinklers were also used at the University of Florida, but the Florida Phoenix reported that “UF’s sprinkler situation” was unclear.

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