Fresh from failing miserably in an attempt to become our commander-in-chief, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday grandly declared himself ready to deploy his very own army to the southern border—and help the state of Texas defy our current president.
DeSantis made the declaration at a high-school press conference in Kissimmee, 900 miles and a world of thwarted ambition away from the White House. He at least did not have to fake a smile because he clearly saw nothing to smile about as he stepped up to a podium with a sign that read not “DeSantis for President” but “Semiconductor Manufacturing.”
“Great to be here at Neo City Academy, we’re excited to be here,” he began, seeming not even remotely excited and sounding as if he would just as soon be campaigning in South Carolina.
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He proceeded to discuss various educational and economic development programs that draw largely on federal funds. He had the same detached air he exhibited during a presidential bid that proved if you do not like people, they are probably not going to like you back.
But he brightened during a Q&A session at the end, when somebody asked if he was prepared to deploy the state guard to Texas.
The impetus for the question was a move by state legislators to edit a law that currently prohibits the governor from deploying the state guard outside of Florida. The bill under consideration would open the door for DeSantis to do so—and he certainly sounded ready to march beyond the borders of his state, which must seem awfully small after a national campaign.
“I think that what’s happening in Texas is not just a Texas issue, it’s an American issue,” he said, launching into a tried and untrue anti-immigration spiel.
“Anyone that wants to do the U.S. harm will look at that border as the easiest soft underbelly this country has right now,” he said.
As DeSantis spoke, another Republican governor was also trying to have it his way at the border. The Texas National Guard has fenced off a park in Eagle Pass and installed barriers and concertina wire along a stretch of the Rio Grande River—and Gov. Greg Abbott went to federal court to stop the U.S. Border Patrol from cutting the wire.
The U.S. Supreme Court shut down his effort, but in the way of many law-and-order Republicans, Abbott announced his intention to defy the law and “hold the line” against an “invasion.”
With the rhetorical equivalent of stuffing lifts in your boots, DeSantis now pledged to stand with Texas for the sake of the nation. Never mind that the nation had only shrugged when DeSantis spent millions seeking to become its leader.
“If we need to stand up and ensure the sovereignty of the country, then we need to do that so they can count on me to help from the state of Florida,” he proclaimed.
DeSantis said he could have sent the Florida National Guard, but it is under federal control. But in 2o22, DeSantis had brought back the Florida State Guard—disbanded since 1947—as an entity answerable only to him.
“The president would not be able to federalize the State Guard,” he noted.
That meant the feds could not order State Guard members sent to Texas to return to Florida, and the federal government would also be unable to deploy the state guard to distant places, as it does with the National Guard.
”Why should we just have people just get plucked out of here to be doing whatever these guys in Washington want?” DeSantis said at Friday’s event. “If these are people serving the state, we want to be able to have control over that.”
He sounded as up-lifted as he had on the trail, before quitting the race after a distant second-place finish in Iowa. Then the press conference moved into the next question, and DeSantis was surely reminded that his own power has borders: A man in the audience asked him about truancy in local schools.
