Ron DeSantis recycles Djibouti diss in drug victory lap

Ron DeSantis is bringing back the classics in describing Florida’s just-approved import drug program, including a gratuitous insult of an African country.

The Governor said Saturday that the plan to bring in certain medicines from Canada, federally approved Friday after a three year waiting period, is defensible because it’s an “industrial country.”

“I mean, yes, it’s safe. Of course, it’s safe. Give me a break. This is not bringing in drugs from Djibouti. I mean, come on,” he said in Davenport, Iowa, at an event hosted by the Never Back Down super PAC.

It is uncertain why DeSantis chose a country of less than a million people to mock, much less one that is a valued strategic partner for the American military in a region beset by turbulence, or one that has had human civilization since long before the birth of Christ. Whatever his rationale, the Governor has used Djibouti as an anti-Canada before in remarks about the program.

“Basically, they tried to say this is a safety issue. You know, people use drugs in Canada. This is not Djibouti,” DeSantis said, referring to the east African nation in 2022. “It’s a safe country.”

“I’m watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse with my daughter, and I see, oh, Gov. DeSantis and his minions want to bring in these dangerous drugs from Djibouti or whatever. It was nonsense,” he said in 2021.

DeSantis has used other small population regions to illustrate his points as a candidate, including repeatedly invoking the Bahamas as a place that he could “flatten” in a matter of hours if their nationals attacked Fort Lauderdale. That example is intended to draw a comparison between Florida/the Bahamas and Israel/Hamas.