DeSantis says bipartisan border deal would be ‘dead on arrival’ if he were president

by Lauren Irwin - 01/13/24 9:32 AM ET

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis claimed that if the border deal struck between Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Democrats passes, it would become “dead on arrival” if he were elected to the White House in November.

“Well, when I’m president, that’ll be dead on arrival,” DeSantis, the governor of Florida, told Fox News’s Laura Ingraham Friday. “You know, some of these Republicans are just so out of touch with the voters.”

Johnson told reporters Friday that the negotiations were hard-fought, but a “strong top-line” agreement had been met. Both conservatives and many Democrats were unhappy with the spending allocated to securing the U.S.-Mexico border.

Democrats rejected Johnson’s demands for strict border security measures, including new construction on a border wall and the reinstallation of former President Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” policy — which required asylum seekers to stay in Mexico while being processed.

Republicans said they would oppose any new aid for Ukraine unless border measures were also included in the bill. Despite pushback, the Speaker said the deal would stand, as a partial government shutdown looms next week without an alternative.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to media following a Fox News Town Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, Tuesday, Jan 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

DeSantis, speaking from Des Moines, Iowa, just days before the 2024 caucuses are set to take place, touted his campaign achievement of traveling to each the Hawkeye State’s 99 counties. The governor also claimed he knew what Republican voters water when it comes to the border.

“Republicans want people that are here illegally to be deported, which we need to do. They want to end these insane border policies that Biden’s doing,” he said. “Yes, they want a wall, they want to see that done and they also want to see action against the drug cartels.”

“And I think what you’re likely to see out of this deal, is the typical Lucy with the football, promising you’re going to deal with the border and then of course, the football gets pulled away and it’s the same old song and dance,” DeSantis continued, referencing a scene from the “Peanuts” comic strip.

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The GOP hopeful argued that the government has to start “putting American people first” and that “we’re going to lose this country” if immigrants continue to arrive at the southern border “at this rate.”

He previously said that if he won the presidency, he would declare a national border emergency and shut down all illegal entry attempts into the country. He also vowed to issue a mass deportation of migrants if elected and said “they all have to go back.”