President Joe Biden on Thursday criticized a potential opponent in the 2024 White House race, going after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida while delivering a speech in Tampa. “Over 1.1 million people in Florida would be eligible for Medicaid, if Gov. DeSantis just said, ‘I agree to expand it,’” Biden said. “By the way, it’ll also keep rural hospitals open.”
The president noted that Florida is among 11 states that have opted against expansions for Medicaid, the health-insurance program for the poor, that would be 90% funded by the federal government. “It’s a great deal. Thirty-nine states said, ‘Yeah, send it to us,’” Biden told an audience at the University of Tampa. Representatives for DeSantis didn’t immediately respond to MarketWatch’s request for comment. From MarketWatch’s archives (September 2021): States are refusing to expand Medicaid — here’s why that’s a problem Earlier Thursday, the Biden White House chided the DeSantis administration for its feud with Walt Disney Co.
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over the company’s opposition to a Florida law that restricts teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity in public schools. Critics have called it the “Don’t Say Gay” law. “I certainly would not get into a fight with Mickey Mouse. I don’t think that would be the thing that I would be doing,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters aboard Air Force Once while enroute to Tampa, after she was asked about the feud. In his speech on Thursday, Biden also reiterated the attacks on Republican proposals for Social Security and Medicare that he made in Tuesday’s State of the Union address and in a speech on Wednesday in Wisconsin. See: Biden vows he’ll turn Republicans’ dreams for Social Security and Medicare into a nightmare Opinion: Yes, Republicans want changes to Social Security and Medicare entitlements — because some are needed The White House had billed the presiden …