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The Biden campaign has already written off Florida as being winnable, a blow to Democrats who mistakenly believed that abortion could flip the state blue.

In an interview billed as a “rare and candid conversation” with Puck News, Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon threw cold water on the idea that the Sunshine State is in play, bluntly telling the outlet’s John Heilemann “No” when asked if it was a battleground state.

“I think Florida’s in play, nationally,” Biden told supporters during an April visit to Tampa, drawing applause from supporters who enthusiastically gulped down the Kool-Aid at the time but were just given a cold dose of reality by O’Malley.

During the conversation about the campaign’s six-state strategy that focuses on Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, O’Malley Dillon was asked whether the campaign viewed Florida as one that could end up in Biden’s win column.

“If you boil it down, what you’re saying is that 2020 was a national election; there were battleground states, but you ran the campaign like a national referendum on Trump,” he asked. “But in 2024, you’re running a half-dozen targeted state campaigns—which gets us to the topic of your paths to victory. I named six states, you’d agree those are battlegrounds, yes?”

“Yes,” O’Malley Dillon replied.

“And you’re saying you see North Carolina also as a battleground state?” Heilemann asked,” to which she replied, “Yes.”

Heilemann then asked, “Florida?”

“No,” she responded, a rare and refreshing bit of honesty from Team Biden.

“Thank you. I was afraid you were going to lie,” Heilemann responded.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis whose leadership has transformed Florida into one of the most solidly red states in the nation jabbed Joe and his fellow Democrats.

“For decades, Florida was the largest, most-important battleground state in presidential elections,” he wrote on X. “Today, even the Biden campaign acknowledges that those days are over. Florida is not in play in 2024.”

The Biden team angrily reacted to the statement, insisting that Florida is still in play.

“Florida is in play for President Biden and Democrats up and down the ballot,” Biden Battleground States Director Dan Kanninen said in a statement, according to the Tampa Bay Times. “Trump and his out-of-touch loyalists are taking the state for granted, while their extreme agenda continues to increase costs and rip away Floridians’ freedoms.”

It’s truly Orwellian for Biden loyalists to talk about ripping away freedoms after the geriatric Democrat went to war with Florida over his regime’s imposition of authoritarian COVID measures that were rejected by DeSantis, making him the gold standard of governors for his leadership during the pandemic.

Failed gubernatorial candidate and weed lobbyist Nikki Fried, now the leader of Florida Democrats, also reacted.

“We’re not naive about the challenges ahead, but we’re building the foundation of Democratic success, not just for this cycle, but for the years and decades to come,” she said in a statement. “Don’t count Florida out.”

“Another day, another Florida Democrat debacle! Despite Nikki Fried’s rhetoric, the Biden campaign is clearly waving the white flag in Florida,” said Florida GOP Chair Evan Power.

Despite one recent poll showing the 81-year-old slightly closing the gap, Florida is solidly Trump country.

“Florida is Trump Country consistently in polling, voter enthusiasm, and voter registration,” said Trump campaign Senior Advisor Brian Hughes.

“With President Trump at the top of the ballot, and on down all the races this November, Florida will be bright red. In a noteworthy and rare bit of honesty, it was good to see the Biden/Harris campaign finally admit this reality. It is a shame, though, that Floridians had to endure media amplification of the bogus Biden narrative of the state being ‘in play’ for months,” Hughes added.

Chris Donaldson
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