As we reported earlier today, National Guard troops who were used mostly for props and photo-ops for politicians at President Joe Biden’s inauguration were relegated to a cold parking garage with little food and restricted access to restrooms last night, causing a national uproar.
According to the Washington Examiner, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis caught wind of the situation and on Friday morning, announced that he would swiftly be returning Florida National Guard troops back to their home state, asserting that “they’re soldiers” and “not Nancy Pelosi’s servants.”
The governor expressed his great frustration over the situation on Fox News’ Fox & Friends on Friday morning, adding that there was no good reason as to why his — and other state’s — troops were treated like a pack of dogs after the politicians were done with their services.
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“I mean, these folks are soldiers,” the governor said. “They’ve served our country all around the world. They’ve served our state of Florida after natural disasters. They’re serving right now helping with vaccinating senior citizens, and they’ve been on the front lines of the COVID fight. They’re soldiers. They’re not Nancy Pelosi’s servants.”
DeSantis also criticized the Biden administration’s idea that the troops were to be “vetted” leading up to the inauguration ceremony in order to root out any individuals who were considered at risk of being to close to right-wing extremist groups.
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.@GovRonDeSantis calls Florida National Guard troops home from D.C.
“They’re soldiers. They’re not Nancy Pelosi servants.” pic.twitter.com/K1v16VzOX4
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) January 22, 2021
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“And this comes on the back end of them trying to investigate the backgrounds of our Guardsmen,” DeSantis said. “Florida, we did not let them go into their political beliefs. I thought that was totally inappropriate. I thought it was very disrespectful for people who are clearly patriots. So, this is a half-cocked mission at this point, and I think the appropriate thing is to bring them home.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott echoed DeSantis’ thoughts on the matter and took a similar course of action on Thursday night, pulling his Texas National Guard troops out of Washington D.C.
“This is the most offensive thing I’ve ever heard,” Abbott tweeted Monday. “No one should ever question the loyalty or professionalism of the Texas National Guard. I authorized more than 1,000 to go to DC. I’ll never do it again if they are disrespected like this.”
The bottom line is that what happened to those troops at the Capitol was inexcusable and I venture to wonder if a number of Republican governors will even offer their National Guard units for assistance — when it’s actually needed — in the future, given what has taken place over the past 24 hours.
