White House Attacks DeSantis Ahead of the 2024 Election

Sarah Arnold | March 11, 2023 5:00 PM

The Biden White House is ramping up its attacks on Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla) ahead of the 2024 election, claiming his "woke" agenda is "despicable."

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre scathingly callout Republicans, calling them extreme and hateful.

"When Republicans — extreme Republicans, these MAGA Republicans — don't agree with an issue or policy, they don't bring forth something that will either have a good-faith conversation. They go to this conversation of 'woke.' But that is not actually policy," Jean-Pierre said, adding, "what that turns into is hate. What it turns into is a despicable policy. And it's just not the way we're going to move forward."

When asked at the briefing on Friday what the Biden Administration thought about DeSantis's speech in Iowa, Jean-Pierre claimed the governor's remarks were not about "protecting freedoms."

"This is about attacking - we're talking about young kids and their parents. Because of how they view themselves. Because of how they see themselves. Because of how they want to live. Kids and their parents," Jean-Pierre said. "What does that have to do with anything about being woke? It is just hate. And it is shameful, it is shameful."

During his speech, DeSantis talked about transgender ideology being taught in schools, saying exposing young children to such a radical agenda is wrong.

"It is wrong to tell a second-grader they were born in the wrong body. It is wrong to have gender ideology imposed in our schools, and in Florida, we don't let it happen," he told the Iowa crowd.

In response, DeSantis' press secretary Bryan Griffin schooled Jean-Pierre on the governor's so-called "despicable" policies that the White House condemns.

Here are the Florida policies that @PressSec labels as "despicable":

-No porn in schools
-Preserving the innocence of children
-Keeping public education free from sexual content, radical gender ideology, and racial discrimination https://t.co/YtXibOldfU
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) March 10, 2023

The White House has been no fan of DeSantis for some time now. Previously, Jean-Pierre said the Republican had made a "mockery" of the immigration system with his "political stunts" after deploying the Florida National Guard to following "an alarming influx of migrants" arriving in the Florida Keys.

She also said she has "not read the op-ed, and frankly, I don't plan to," when asked about DeSantis's op-ed he wrote after terminating Disney World's self-governing status.