Florida leaders praise ‘new day in America’
But some offer criticism of new president
Florida Democrats uniformly praised President Biden’s inaugural speech and his rise to power Wednesday, while the few Florida Republicans who commented offered caveats to Biden’s bipartisan message.
“It has been a long, hard year and we aren’t done fighting yet,” said U.S. Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Winter Park, on Twitter. “But today is a new day in America.”
U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, called the inaugural of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris “a new era in our nation’s history … a key reminder that hope is on its way to the White House.”
Soto also said that the inauguration marked “a new day for Latinos and immigrant communities across America.”
“After four years of President Trump’s unrelenting agenda of hatred and xenophobia against immigrants, Latinos can now rest assured that we will have an immigration system centered on humanity, unity and opportunity,” Soto said.
U.S. Rep. Val Demings, D-Orlando, said, “Today we liberate America’s future.”
The inauguration taking place two weeks after the attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, Demings said, was “a triumph of democracy over violence. It is a promise that while we still have our political arguments, we can still find ways to peacefully and fairly resolve our differences.”
Demings attended the ceremony alongside her husband, Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings, who said in a statement, “I look forward to … seeing the tangible benefits to Orange County residents of the president’s $2 trillion coronavirus relief package and the $350 billion American Rescue Plan announced prior to his inauguration. The road ahead is much brighter than the dark days of our past!”
In Orlando, Mayor Buddy Dyer said, “President Biden hit exactly the right tone of hope and call for unity. He reached out to all Americans, not just those who voted for him.
He acknowledged we face tremendous adversity and challenges that we must face united as Americans.”
Republican leaders, meanwhile, mixed polite acknowledgment of Biden’s presidency with criticism.
In an op-ed for Fox News, Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio wrote that “Biden is now our president … the single most powerful job in the world, and the most serious challenge he will face is leading a bitterly divided country. Biden “extended an olive branch to the 74 million Americans who voted for President Trump,’’ Rubio wrote. “This is important, but that alone will not ‘Make America Normal Again.’ Tens of millions of Americans don’t want to go back to a ‘normal’ that left them feeling forgotten and left behind.”
Rubio cited Biden’s immediate cancellation of the Keystone XL Pipeline, part of the president’s initial executive orders dealing with the environment.
“You don’t have to look any further than the Biden administration ... destroying thousands of good-paying union jobs to know that we have a fight on our hands,” Rubio said.
Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott wrote on Twitter, “I would like to congratulate @POTUS Joe Biden and @VP Kamala Harris. Now, it’s time to focus on moving our nation forward.’ ”
Shortly afterward he criticized the Biden administration changing the name of the U.S. Ambassador to Israel to “Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza” as hostility to Israel.
GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and
Florida Republican Party chair Joe Gruters did not return requests for comment.
Maria Rodriguez, executive director of the Florida Immigrant Coalition, said the inauguration was a cause for celebration.
“Lots of Floridian parents are going to sleep better tonight in hopes of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel,” Rodriguez said.
Biden will present immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship during his first days in office. She said Biden’s proposal is a good first step but specifically cited expected opposition from Rubio and Scott as a potential hurdle.
Former Democratic U.S. Rep. Gwen Graham had one of the most succinct responses to the end of President Trump’s term.
“And the nation exhales,” Graham wrote.