Gov. Ron DeSantis accused Republican lawmakers Wednesday of stabbing voters in the back with a terrible agenda. The comment came during a stop Wednesday at the State Police Headquarters in Lee County.
DeSantis accused Republican State House leaders of defunding state police.
The governor said State House Republicans are denying funding for ballistic armor and failing to replace vehicles with over 100,000 miles, as well as cutting jobs.
“Defunding ballistic armor, bulletproof vests — the thing that they need because people are shooting at them and don't care about their lives,” said Kathleen Turner, the wife of a state police officer.
Turner is among the spouses of state troopers opposed to the House's proposed funding cuts.
“They even cut funding to replace control cars with over 100,000 miles. All of this put state troopers in real danger,” said Amanda Garehart, whose fiancé was killed in the line of duty.
The governor claims Republican House leaders are going after law enforcement.
“This a donkey in an elephant suit when they're going after law enforcement,” DeSantis said.
The governor’s attack comes after some GOP leaders claimed his office took $10 million in money meant for Medicaid and directed it to a political action committee against legalizing marijuana last year.
DeSantis called the claims a hoax and said they were trying to smear one of the most successful programs anywhere in the country.
He is talking about the Hope Florida Foundation, spearheaded by the first lady, which was allegedly used to transfer the money for Medicaid to pay for ads against marijuana.
Its chairman, Joshua Hay, was questioned by lawmakers Tuesday during hearings in Tallahassee.
“In recent weeks, the public reporting has made evident that mistakes were made,” Hay told lawmakers.
The governor, however, dismissed claims, calling it nonsense and a charade.
Republican lawmaker Alex Andraded disagreed Tuesday and called the matter serious.
“This is looking more and more like a conspiracy to use Medicaid money to pay for campaign activity,” Andraded stated.
However, DeSantis seemed more focused on the Republican House's failures by what he calls not doing enough to fund state police and provide them with the equipment they need.
“It's not personal. It's business,” DeSantis explained.
Gulf Coast News was also shown one 2013 vehicle in the state police fleet that had 177,000 miles as well as chipped and faded paint, which the force said should be replaced.