In a new interview, Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that President Biden’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping was a win for the “killer” dictator.
DeSantis made his comments while speaking with CNN’s Jake Tapper, saying it was a “bust” for Biden and a “win for Xi.”
“Let’s turn to President Biden this week at his Chinese — at his summit, the Pacific summit,” Tapper said. “He referred to Chinese President Xi Jinping as a dictator. Now, yesterday, you agreed with that, but you also criticized personal diplomacy more generally. You said — quote — ‘You’re not going to win these guys over with personal charm. I mean, these guys are killers’ — unquote.”
“Just to be clear, you’re calling Xi Jinping a killer?” Tapper asked.
“Well, look, what’s been happening to the Uyghurs? What’s been happening in so many places in China? Of course he’s an authoritarian. Of course he’s a dictator,” DeSantis said, referencing China’s genocide of Uyghur Muslims.
“He’s ruling the country with an iron fist,” DeSantis continued. “And I think that the summit was a big win for Xi in terms of the propaganda. You had American business leaders paying $40,000 to be able to sit with him at dinner. He got a rousing ovation from a lot of American CEOs.”
“I know that’s already being played in China as an example of China basically being America’s equal on the world stage,” he added. “I don’t think Joe Biden got anything of note out of this. I mean, they talk about cooperating for fentanyl, as if China doesn’t know the fentanyl is being sent to Mexico and into the United States. Of course they know.”
“This is part of their national strategy to hurt this country. So I think it was a bust from Biden’s perspective and I think it was a win for Xi,” DeSantis concluded.
