Joe Biden is being ill-served by his handlers. Whoever told him to hit Florida Governor Ron DeSantis about his state’s growing COVID caseload clearly hadn’t taken the measure of the Sunshine State’s chief executive.

Of course, COVID caseloads are growing not just in Florida but in states across the country due to the newer Delta variant of the Wuhan coronavirus. However, our nation’s doctors and hospitals have learned and adapted, and much of the hysteria is being driven by leftist control freaks and their mainstream media trucklings.

In any case, an attack from Biden is a clear sign of desperation and a see-through attempt to distract folks from the many miserable failures of his own administration. Unfortunately for Scranton Joe, though, Ron DeSantis punches back. And that’s precisely what he did yesterday at a presser, after Biden called into question his “leadership” and his willingness to “do the right thing” and “save lives.” Said DeSantis:

I think the question is, we can either have a free society, or we can have a biomedical security state. And I can tell you: Florida? We’re a free state. People are going to be free to choose, to make their own decisions about themselves, about their families, about their kids’ education, and about putting food on the table.

And Joe Biden suggests that if you don’t do lockdown policies, then you should quote, ‘get out of the way.’ But let me tell you this: If you’re coming after the rights of parents in Florida, I’m standing in your way. I’m not going to let you get away with it.

If you’re trying to deny kids a proper in-person education, I’m gonna stand in your way and I’m gonna stand up for the kids in Florida. If you’re trying to restrict people, impose mandates, if you’re trying to ruin their jobs and their livelihoods and their small business, if you are trying to lock people down, I am standing in your way, and I’m standing for the people of Florida.

Then came the knockout punch: “So, why don’t you do your job?” said DeSantis in closing. “Why don’t you get this border secure? And until you do that, I don’t want to hear a blip about COVID from you.”

It was a masterful clinic on counterpunching — one that would’ve made Donald Trump proud. See it for yourself:

Gov. Ron DeSantis blasts Joe Biden, tells him to do his job and that Florida is a place for freedom, not a “biomedical security state.” pic.twitter.com/bsarqlnbHY

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) August 4, 2021

The pathetic leftists at CNN, which went all of last week without attracting a measly million viewers to any of its shows, had their own hot take on DeSantis, dismissing his fiery words as purely political: “The confrontation was the latest sign of how DeSantis — who is expected to be a top contender in the next Republican presidential primary if former President Donald Trump doesn’t run — is weaponizing his stewardship of the emergency to further his own political aspirations, previewing a possible 2024 White House matchup if Biden seeks reelection.”

CNN has it wrong, though, and DeSantis clearly understands the battle lines that are being drawn. The choice that confronts the American people is one of freedom versus state-sanctioned biomedical overreach.

We’re reminded of what Ben Franklin said long ago: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

The choice, then, is between Liberty and tyranny. Same as it ever was.