Yesterday, Joe Biden gave the most surreal press conference of his presidency. As Afghanistan descended into further chaos and thousands of Americans remained in harm’s way, the president returned to the White House to give a minutes-long statement on COVID. Biden attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, pledged retribution for anyone not forcing masks on children, and then just walked out. No questions were taken on the issue that was dominating not only the news but also his presidency. An existential crisis was simply ignored.

The absolute absurdity and dereliction of duty weren’t lost on DeSantis, who went on Fox News last night to respond.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: Afghanistan and our own border are falling apart, yet Joe Biden "is obsessed with having the government force kindergarteners to wear masks all day in school."

"Where are your priorities, that you're so obsessed with this issue?" 🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/zjJcisvcV8

— Scott Morefield (@SKMorefield) August 19, 2021

As DeSantis notes, while showing obvious anger at the situation, Biden was inexplicably (or it’s completely explicable if you assume he’s got dementia) on vacation at Camp David while Afghanistan collapsed. Instead of rushing back to the White House as a normal president would, he remained there until late Tuesday evening. He then gave his ridiculous presser, not even mentioning the tragedy unfolding and taking no questions, and is now scheduled to head to Delaware for a long weekend. It’s insane, and it’s evidence that this president is not capable of executing the duties of his office.

But it’s not just Afghanistan. DeSantis went through the laundry list of crises that are facing this country right now largely because of Biden’s awful decision-making. The border has reached levels of anarchy not seen in modern history. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants are pouring across per month in the middle of the hot season, a time when things are supposed to slow down.

Meanwhile, inflation, especially regarding gas and other energy prices, is killing the middle-class, eating away at their savings, and destroying their buying power. That’s largely due to Biden’s crushing of the nation’s capacity to provide energy for itself. In response, all the president can do is claim it’s temporary even though it’s obviously not temporary at this point.

And in the midst of all that, as DeSantis says, Biden is absolutely obsessed with putting masks on kindergarteners. It’s the most asinine policy focus I’ve ever seen given what else is going on in the world. And this president is so incompetent that he’s focused on abusing civil rights laws to force children into masks as if it’s a civil right to have the government tell you to do something.

I’ll end by noting how politically stupid all this has been for Biden as well. He walked right into DeSantis’ punch by attacking the governor when there was no reason to. COVID spikes are happening all over the country, including across the ocean in Hawaii. Florida was not unique and mask mandates are making no difference. Yet, the White House, desperate for some good press, thought it’d be a good idea to ignore the crisis at hand to take shots at who they see as a big 2024 threat. That’s backfiring and Biden deserves everything he’s getting now.