Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis compared Joe Biden's presidency to the 1989 movie "Weekend at Bernie's," in which two employees go to comical lengths to pretend that their dead boss is alive, during his speech Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
"I am alarmed that the current president of the United States lacks the capability to discharge the duties of his office," DeSantis said. "Our enemies do not confine their designs to between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
"We need we need a commander in chief who can lead 24 hours a day and seven days a week. America cannot afford four more years of a 'Weekend at Bernie's' presidency."
In the aftermath of a contested Republican presidential primary fight, DeSantis has been generally supportive of Trump, and he showered the former president with praise during his speech.
"Life was more affordable when Donald Trump was president," he said. "Our border was safer under the Trump administration, and our country was respected when Donald Trump was our commander in chief."
Like fellow GOP presidential contenders Vivek Ramaswamy and Nikki Haley said before him, DeSantis emphasized the importance of rallying around the party's embattled leader.
"Donald Trump has been demonized," he said. "He's been sued. He's been prosecuted, and he nearly lost his life. We cannot let him down. And we cannot let America down. It is the values of this Republican Party that reflect our nation's founding principles. We believe schools should educate, not indoctrinate. We stand for parents' rights, including universal school choice. We support law and order, not rioting and disorder. We seek a strong, focused United States military, not one distracted by a social agenda. We reject entrenched political class, and we demand term limits for members of Congress. We stand for fiscal sanity, for low taxes, and for reduced debt. We seek to reclaim the constitutional government as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, by bringing the administrative state to heel once and for all.
"We believe that you must be a citizen in order to vote, and that photo ID should be required before casting a ballot. We stand for strong borders and believe that our nation must have a shared civic culture, and we oppose any immigration that stands apart or in contrast to our American values. We believe in the principles articulated in the Declaration of Independence that our rights come not from the generosity of the state, but from the hand of the Almighty, including the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."