On Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” 2024 Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis stated that his 2024 Republican opponent former President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on China in 2016 and how he actually dealt with China were very different and that when he “could have marshaled a lot of support in America to have a stronger posture vis-a-vis China, he was praising Xi about how well Xi did” in handling COVID early on “And no one’s ever done anything to hold China accountable for their role in that. He didn’t do very much either to hold China accountable for their role in the fentanyl.”
DeSantis said, “[H]e ran in 2016 with a very strong policy against China. He had talked about China ripping us off, he had talked about China getting away with building up [their] military. And that was really a key thing. And yet, when it came time to be President, he didn’t take the forceful action that he did. In fact, when COVID hit, which was really the time I think he could have marshaled a lot of support in America to have a stronger posture vis-a-vis China, he was praising Xi about how well Xi did with the virus early on. But you and I both know China covered up what was going on. They weren’t helpful. They helped create a huge problem.”
Co-host Joe Scarborough then cut in to say, “Not only did he praise him, he said, on behalf of the American people, we thank President Xi and China for their openness, when you had people in his own administration, like Matthew Pottinger, desperately trying to get information out of China because he knew they were lying to him.”
DeSantis then said, “Yeah, and I think that part of what also was motivating was he wanted the trade deal. He had done the phase one, that obviously has since broken down. But he really wanted the phase two. And so, I think it was striking a deal above all else. But the reality was, we were in a situation there where we absolutely should have taken more forceful action. And no one’s ever done anything to hold China accountable for their role in that. He didn’t do very much either to hold China accountable for their role in the fentanyl. So, there is a difference in the rhetoric of the 2016 campaign vis-a-vis China and then how he actually dealt with Xi Jinping. And he does frequently say that it’s really impressive that Xi is able to rule over a billion people with an iron fist, I think he says.”
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett
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