President Joe Biden made his initial State of the Union speech Tuesday night.
But regardless of whatever Biden said inside the Capitol, Gov. Ron DeSantis made his own political statement applicable outside the facility.
The Florida Republican refused Biden’s request for Florida National Guard troops to be stationed outside the perimeter of the building.
As DeSantis said in a tweet on Monday, “Last week, the Biden Administration requested the assistance of State National Guards to deploy to Washington D.C. I have rejected this request — there will be no @FLGuard sent to D.C. for Biden’s State of the Union.”
DeSantis’ press secretary, Christina Pushaw, told the Washington Examiner after the governor’s tweet that the Biden administration asked all 50 states “to prepare for anticipated ‘First Amendment protests'” on the occasion of Biden’s address. Pushaw added that the National Guard “should never be misused for political purposes.”
“Last year, when the National Guard deployed to D.C. around the inauguration, they were forced to sleep in freezing parking lots, all for a regime spectacle,” Pushaw told the Examiner. “Our dedicated, patriotic service members deserve better.”
Additionally, Newsweek reported that it was told by the governor’s office that neither the federal government nor Biden specified “why National Guard troops would be needed at an event where US Capitol Police and Secret Service traditionally serve as security.”
Other media reports indicated that the Pentagon had activated about 700 Guardsmen from other states to serve as security and traffic control for the speech and the trucker convoy protest that was scheduled to descend on Washington in time for Biden’s address.
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