GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he's looking at ways to keep President Biden off the ballot due to the "invasion of 8 million" at the southern border — though he said he also believes efforts to bar former President Trump from the ballot are wrong.
"I do think the US Supreme Court is going to have to take the case," DeSantis told reporters following a campaign event in Iowa Friday. "I do think they're going to have to rein this in, because I just think if you look at it, it just becomes too different."
But DeSantis said in the meantime that Florida is looking at whether it could block Biden from the ballot for policies he says have led to an "invasion" of immigrants into the U.S. over the southern border.
"You could make a case — we're actually I'm actually looking at this in Florida now. Could we make a credible case that Biden, because of the invasion of eight million?" DeSantis said.
DeSantis has frequently cited the eight million figure, referring to the number of immigrants who have allegedly entered the country illegally under Biden's administration.
Despite disagreeing with the legality of barring candidates from primary ballots, DeSantis said it is important to fight by the same set of rules Democrats are using.
"I think if this is going to happen for them . . . I don't believe in fighting with one hand tied behind your back. Whatever the rules are applied to us, we're going to fight back and play the rules the other way," DeSantis said.
"You know, we've got a better way forward. We're not going to have to worry about those issues. And then when I become president, I'm going to be able to address all the lawfare and all the weaponization, and we'll be able to end this stuff once and for all," he added.
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case on whether Trump can be kept off of state primary ballots. A Colorado high court ruled in favor of an effort from Republican and unaffiliated voters to bar the former president from appearing on primary ballots.
The Colorado Supreme Court ruled that Trump had engaged in an insurrection for his role in the January 6, 2021, riots at the U.S. Capitol. The Fourteenth Amendment, adopted in 1868 after the Civil War, bars people who have "engaged in insurrection" from holding public office.
Other states have also moved or is considering efforts to block Trump from the ballot. The Maine Secretary of State determined that Trump was ineligible to appear on the primary ballot, and the Illinois State Board of Elections (SBE) will hold a vote this month to decide whether to remove the former president's name.