Ron DeSantis goes after Biden and Trump during his first Iowa appearance trends now
Ron DeSantis slammed President Joe Biden for laughing at a mom who lost her children to fentanyl overdose and then went after Donald Trump's COVID response in his first appearance in Iowa - as his presidential campaign announcement looms.
The Republican governor of Florida made his first appearance in Iowa ahead of a report that he's telling people he will run for the White House next year.
In his remarks, DeSantis went after two of his biggest foes: Trump, who would be his greatest obstacle in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, and Biden, whom he would likely battle if he is the Republican nominee.
He criticized Biden for laughing off a claim he 'killed' the two sons of Rebecca Kiessling, who testified before Congress about the fentanyl crisis. DeSantis said Biden 'doesn't care' and spoke of the mothers he's had to comfort in Florida.
And while he didn't mention Trump by name, he decried the federal response to the COVID pandemic, which started under Trump's presidency and continued under Biden's.
Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, in his first trip to Iowa, emphasized his 'anti-woke' agenda that included his rejection of COVID restrictions, battles over education policy and a hard-line stance on immigration
The ballroom of 1,500 people greeted the Republican governor of Florida with multiple rounds of applause during his speech, where he emphasized his 'anti-woke' agenda that included his rejection of COVID restrictions, battles over education policy and a hard-line stance on immigration.
'We will never surrender to the woke mob,' DeSantis said at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport. 'Our state is where the woke mob goes to die.'
That message has made him a popular figure among conservatives.
DeSantis bragged - to great applause - how Florida flouted the pandemic-era restrictions and mocked Dr. Athony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who served as the face of the pandemic.
'During COVID, the world lost its mind, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, the state of Florida stood as a refuge of sanity,' he said. 'We were a citadel of freedom for people all over this country and even around the world that would come.'
'We refused to let our state descend into some sort of Faucian dystopia where people's livelihoods were destroyed and their freedoms were curtailed. No, we chose freedom over Fauci-ism.'
'We were right. And they were wrong,' he added as the crowd cheered him.
He was blunter in his criticism of Biden, mentioning the letter he sent the president asking him to allow Novak Djokovic, the world’s No. 1 tennis player, into Florida to play in this month’s Miami Open even though Djokovic refuses to be vaccinated for COVID.
'I have said if Djokovic wants to meet us in the Bahamas, we'll get him over here by boat get him to the state of Florida so he can compete,' he said.
And he was harshly critical of Biden 'for laughing off a claim from Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene that he 'killed' the two sons of Rebecca Kiessling. Her sons Caleb and Kyler died in 2020 before Biden took office after taking what they thought were pain killers, but that were laced with fentanyl.
'Mothers that I have to console in Florida that lose a child because of what's going on at the border is a disgrace that this is happening,' DeSantis noted.
'Here's the thing: when they laced fentanyl in this stuff, these are kids, you know, teenagers, those in their early 20s, they may have made a decision that wasn't the best decision but they had no idea what they were getting.'
'Biden doesn't care. He laughed at that mother. Did you see that? He laughed at that mother who lost two, who lost a child because of fentanyl,' he added.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, at the time, said Biden had expressed 'sympathy' and that his words were 'mischaracterized.'
Greene claimed the boys died due to Biden administration policies and Biden chuckled when he talked about that. Kiessling demanded an apology but the White House wouldn't say if the president would give her one.
Rebecca Kiessling, a mother from Michigan who lost two sons to fentanyl poisoning, wipes away tears during her testimony on Tuesday
Kiessling's sons Caleb and Kyler died in 2020 when they were 18 and 20 after taking a pill that they did not know was laced with fentanyl
The ballroom at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in Davenport, Iowa, was packed with around 1,500 people to see Ron DeSantis
DeSantis, in his remarks, emphasized his conservative credentials and his success in Florida, where he easily won a second term as governor last year.
Trump, in a post on his Truth Social platform on Friday, criticized DeSantis in one of his favorite ways - giving him a derogatory nickname and mocking his crowd size.
'Very small crowds for Ron DeSanctimonious in Iowa. He’s against Farmers, Social Security, and Medicare, so why would people show up - other than Fake stories from the Fake News!,' the former president wrote.
Jean-Pierre also went after DeSantis on Friday in her White House press briefing.
She said of his 'anti-woke' agenda, particularly against LGBTQ youth: 'It is just hate. And it is shameful, it is shameful. And we're going to call it out and like I said the president is going to continue to say we have the back of that community, or any vulnerable community.'
DeSantis was greeted with like a rock star in Davenport and, after his remarks, spent several minutes working the rope line, shaking hands and signing books.
The friendly crowded cheered him when he mentioned flying migrants from Texas to Martha's Vineyard and booed the Walt Disney company when DeSantis talked about how he battled the theme park giant over a law banning gender and sexuality instruction to young school children.
'I'm sick of elites who are imposing their vision on open
