Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis called President Joe Biden a “Weekend At Bernie’s” president Tuesday evening during his speech at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
“Let’s send Joe Biden back to his basement and let’s send Donald Trump back to the White House,” DeSantis said to enthusiastic applause.
“America cannot afford four more years of a ‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ presidency,” the governor said, referencing the 1989 comedy in which two insurance employees prop up their dead boss.
DeSantis said he is “alarmed that the current president of the United States lacks the capability to discharge the duties of his office.”
“Our enemies do not confine their designs to between 10 am and 4 pm,” DeSantis continued. “But … let’s be honest here. Biden is just a figurehead. He’s a tool for imposing a leftist agenda on the American people.”
DeSantis criticized many of the Biden administration’s policies, including its push for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), which DeSantis said really stands for “division, exclusion, and indoctrination, and it is wrong.”
“They support open borders, allowing millions and millions of illegal aliens to pour into our country and to burden our communities,” DeSantis said.
“But just don’t send any to Martha’s Vineyard. Then they get really upset,” the governor added, referencing his famous move to fly about 50 illegal migrants to the wealthy island, causing an uproar among residents.
DeSantis also praised former President Donald Trump after campaigning against him in the primary. DeSantis ultimately dropped out of the race in January.
Both DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, who lingered in the primary race until March, offered endorsements of Trump, who officially clinched the Republican nomination at the convention.
“Life was more affordable when Donald Trump was president, our border was safer under the Trump administration, and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our commander-in-chief,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis spoke on the second day of the convention, which started just two days after Trump survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in western Pennsylvania, where a gunman grazed the former president’s right ear with a bullet. One rallygoer was killed, and two others were injured in the shooting.
“Now Donald Trump stands in their way, and he stands up for America. Donald Trump has been demonized, he’s been sued, he’s been prosecuted, and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down, and we cannot let America down,” DeSantis said.
