Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday blasted House Speaker Mike Johnson and GOP lawmakers in Congress for handing President Joe Biden a win on foreign aid, especially in Ukraine, without wringing any new concessions from Democrats to secure America’s border.
Last weekend’s move by Johnson, said DeSantis, “was a real, real failure” that grossly betrayed GOP voters.
Many conservatives have leveled Johnson in recent days for going along with the $95 billion package that funded Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan — just as Biden and congressional Democrats wanted.
Read: Kentucky Rep. Massie Faced Fine From Johnson After Video Post Of Democrats Waiving Ukrainian Flags
Conservatives pointed out that Johnson backtracked from his earlier pledge that no such deal would be struck without additional muscle at the Mexican border to curtail the tidal wave of illegal immigration.
Johnson responded after the vote on Saturday that he was doing the “right thing” by working with Democrats and defying the majority of GOP lawmakers who voted against $61 billion for Ukraine.
“I can make a selfish decision and do something that is different, but I’m doing here what I believe to be the right thing. I think providing aid to Ukraine right now is critically important,” he said.
DeSantis, however, ripped Johnson for forgetting the people who placed their faith in him and the rest of the GOP.
House Republicans “were sent there, and the No. 1 issue that our voters wanted them to address is the southern border and the massive influx of foreigners by the millions coming into this country,” said DeSantis.
Read: The Satanic Temple Vs. Florida Gov. DeSantis: A Debate On Religious Freedoms
“We don’t know who these people (immigrants) are, and they (Republicans) basically just surrendered on the border,” he continued. “They now have no leverage to do anything on the border.”
The governor pointed out that Johnson and the GOP could have forced Biden to accept tougher border security measures in exchange for the aid for his cherished Ukraine and the others.
Yet, DeSantis added, “they decided to capitulate.”
“And so he got everything he wants. And Republican voters did not get anything with respect to stopping this problem at the southern border,” he continued.
DeSantis argued that “we’re doing more in Florida to deal with it than Congress is.”
“I mean, it’s just pathetic. I was really, really disappointed to see that they basically capitulated entirely on the border. And at this point, you’re not gonna see anything done on the border for the rest of this year,” the governor added.
“What, are we just gonna let in another 2 million people and do nothing about it? I think it was a real, real failure.”
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