It's a "total insult" that a white powder, suspected to be cocaine, was found at the White House, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said on Newsmax on Tuesday.
"This is our house," the Florida Republican commented on "John Bachman Now." "We house our presidents, our president's family [there], and to have that type of a substance being found there, I think it's a total insult and a slap to the respect [of] the American public."
On Sunday, a white powder found in the West Wing of the White House prompted an emergency hazardous materials call to the Washington, D.C., fire department, according to a U.S. Secret Service source, who told Newsmax White House correspondent James Rosen that it was believed to be cocaine.
"There should be reverence and some dignity and respect when it comes to the hallowed hallways of the White House, and I feel like it's just been totally mishandled," said Patronis. "This is just totally characteristic of this administration. It's a sad day for America on such a day [when] we should be celebrating."
The news comes as reports grow that the Department of Justice "has been weaponized by the Biden administration," said Patronis, noting that Hunter Biden got a "sweetheart deal" while former President Donald Trump is facing "relentless persecution" by the Department of Justice.
"A lot of hypocrisy is happening right now," he said. "Political weaponization of the DOJ, unfortunately, seems like the theme of this election cycle."
Meanwhile, the DOJ has spoken out against a new Florida law that prohibits Chinese citizens and restricts citizens from several other countries from buying property near military installations. Patronis said it makes him "sick" to his stomach to know that Florida taxpayers' dollars are being "sent to China in order to sue the state of Florida."
"I think it's the right thing to do, where we try to protect our military installations … where we harden those areas around our installations to make sure there's no noise abatement, eminent domain, no threats of any type of controversy," said Patronis. "Allowing China to be next-door neighbors to a United States Air Force base or Navy base is absolutely unacceptable in the eyes of the state of Florida.
"We will continue to stand by that law in order to protect those base-buffering initiatives."
Patronis also talked about Gov. Ron DeSantis and his presidential campaign promise to eliminate departments, including Education, Energy, and Commerce, as well as the Internal Revenue Service. "I'm still stunned that Washington has the votes to supersize the IRS, a massive expansion," he said, pointing out calls to hire 80,000 new agents to "go out and harvest middle-class dollars." "There's no way they can get the budget to pay for those positions without targeting the middle class."
He added that he fears the IRS will target the state of Florida because "they're going to go after where the fishing is good. … Florida has been the beneficiary of a lot because people are leaving those train-wreck, upside down, financially strapped blue states."
Meanwhile, there is talk that Patronis is considering running for governor of Florida, but he said Tuesday that he's trying to be the "best CFO in the history of the state of Florida."
"Fiscal health is better now than it's ever been in any time in Florida's history, but a lot of this lies in Gov. DeSantis's hands. He's doing an amazing job. He has put the state of Florida in the place it is today, and I'm just focused on making sure we keep Florida free," said Patronis.
"We have to continue ... to keep Florida free, but also free of the crazies that come here and would want to ruin this amazing state that is the envy of the rest of the 49 states."
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