OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
President Joe Biden once again sailed to victory in Florida’s Democratic primary on Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean he’s doing well in the state where his most-liked GOP challenger, former President Donald Trump, calls home.
Biden won all 224 delegates in the state, while Trump, who also easily won the GOP primary, picked up the 125 delegates up for grabs for the Republican winner, ABC News reported.
Once a true battleground state, Florida, under Gov. Ron DeSantis, has shifted decidedly to the right, as has Ohio in recent election cycles. Trump won the state by a narrow margin in 2016 and by a much wider margin in 2020.
Additionally, a recent survey by St. Pete Polls for WMNF Radio in Tampa indicates that Trump appears to be on track to win the state once more. In that poll, he holds a 6-point lead over the president.
“The survey also shows, however, that among political independents in Florida, the race is virtually tied, with Trump at 41.3% and Biden at 40.9%,” the Florida Phoenix reported, adding that “nearly six percent said they preferred another candidate, and five percent were undecided.”
What’s more, as in several other recent surveys, the St. Pete Poll has Trump dramatically leading Biden among younger voters ages 18-29 by a 51-33 percent margin. Among Florida Hispanics, Trump outpolls Biden 53-36 percent.
The Florida Phoenix added:
Trump’s lead in Florida isn’t a surprise, as the Republican Party of Florida continues to build up a lead over the Florida Democratic Party in terms of voter registrations in the state. Republicans had a lead over the Democrats of nearly 780,000 at the end of 2023. And Trump has defeated his Democratic opponent in Florida in the past two presidential elections. As to voter registration numbers, Republicans are at 5,141,848, Democrats at 4,362,147, and No Party affiliation (NPA) at 3,528,807, according to the Florida Division of Elections.
It’s unclear how seriously Biden and the Democrats nationally will compete in Florida, which is no longer considered a swing state. The president’s only visit to the state this year was when he held two fundraising events in South Florida in late January.
DeSantis, well aware that Haiti is collapsing and preparing for an onslaught of migrants illegally making their way to his state, has vowed they won’t stay there for long.
The former 2024 GOP presidential contender told TheFirst TV’s Dana Loesch in an interview Wednesday that he’s ordered 250 Florida National Guard troops and state troopers to deploy along Florida’s coast in preparation for an influx of migrants from Haiti as that country disintegrates following the resignation of Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry.
DeSantis said since he can’t send the Haitians back to their own country, he’s contemplating sending them to Martha’s Vineyard, a deep-blue Massachusetts enclave that is home to some of the country’s elite, including former President Barack Obama who has a home there.
“The problem when you get to a situation like Florida is if they have people in our state and we wanted to fly them, say, back to Haiti, you have to get clearance to be able to do that. If you wanted to fly somebody to a South American country, wherever they’re from, it becomes a little bit more difficult because the federal government’s gonna tell the host countries not to accept our planes,” DeSantis said. “So we’ve gone through these iterations of what can we do as states.”
“I definitely think we can help put them back over the border if they come across in Texas and Arizona,” he continued. “So I’d be willing to help do that. I think that the states really have no other choice to do that at that point. It’s a little bit different for a maritime state like us. That’s why we’ve really got to get them before they reach the shores, and that’s why we’re working so hard to do that.”
“Although I will say this,” DeSantis added. “We do have our transport program, also, that’s going to be operational. So, uh, Haitians land in the Florida Keys, their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard,” he added.
WATCH:
DeSantis on what he may do with incoming Haitian illegal immigrants: “We do have our transport program, also, that’s going to be operational. So, uh, Haitians land in the Florida Keys, their next stop very well may be Martha’s Vineyard." pic.twitter.com/3Q9AZEhFDq
— USA Features Media (@UsaFeatures) March 21, 2024
