(Headline USA) Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis denied a request from the Biden administration this week to send the state’s National Guard to Washington, D.C. ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
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.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 28, 2022
Christina Pushaw, DeSantis’s press secretary, added in a follow-up statement that the Biden administration made the request to all states so that the federal government could be prepared for “‘First Amendment protests,’” including the truckers’ People’s Convoy, ahead of Biden’s address. DeSantis denied this request because he believes the National Guard “should never be misused for political purposes,” Pushaw added.
She also referred to last year’s National Guard deployment in Washington, D.C. after the Jan. 6 Capitol protests, and argued the troops were treated horribly by government officials.
“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,” she said. “Our dedicated, patriotic service members deserve better.”
The Pentagon approved the deployment of hundreds of National Guard service members to D.C. last week after city officials claimed the trucker convoy headed to the nation’s capital poses a serious threat. The city also erected a fence around the U.S. Capitol building again and stationed police officers near every freeway exit.
“I think we need to be very candid with the public about some of the expectations based upon what we’ve seen in Ottawa,” Metropolitan Police Department Chief Robert Contee said.
However, organizers of the People’s Convoy said they have no intention of even entering the city. They instead plan to shut down most of the freeways surrounding D.C., like a “boa constrictor.”
