Another holiday season is upon us, and Gov. Ron DeSantis is offering what seems to be a seasonal reminder not to stuff stockings with playthings from Beijing.
During an event in Prosperity, South Carolina, the 2024 presidential candidate pivoted from a discussion of banning Chinese vapes to explaining how toys from the country have wreaked havoc with DeSantis family Christmases.
“We get the kids these toys and they’re all made in China. A lot of them are and literally they break within like, a couple of days,” DeSantis vented, calling the products “the cheapest stuff I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Those following the Governor may have heard this line of complaint before, such as in Iowa in October.
“These toys made in China, literally, they break within 48 hours. It’s the cheapest stuff imaginable,” DeSantis said.
“A lot of times they don’t even have the full parts, and I burned a lot of hours putting together dollhouses and all this stuff. The worst feeling is you sink two hours into it and then there’s a part missing and you can’t complete it,” he added.
In Texas this Summer, DeSantis said, “This cheap stuff from China, you know, when my wife and I get our kids Christmas presents, and the stuff made in China breaks, it’s like you can’t even last two days after Christmas without the toys breaking. And so, it’s really, really cheap stuff.”
During remarks in January in Bonita Springs, the Florida Governor warned St. Nick against Chinese toys, the highlight of comments denouncing the “hostile” regime in Beijing.
“And I’m just thinking to myself like, ‘OK, you get it from China because it’s cheaper to pay.’ But if it doesn’t even last a week, then what difference does it make? So a lot of these things we got? Santa Claus may need to not do Chinese toys because let’s just make it here … honestly anywhere, but not China.”
Back in 2021, meanwhile, DeSantis lamented not the quality of the toys, but whether issues at ports would stop them coming in at all.
“You see all of these problems with the shipping and not being able to get goods. We don’t even know if the kids will get toys for Christmas,” the Governor said in Niceville.
The good news? The supply chain issues have been solved.
The bad news? What’s coming in now isn’t worth buying, at least in DeSantis’ estimation.
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