Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis clapped back at President Joe Biden after he said earlier this week it is “close to sinful” for states to block minors from getting permanent transgender surgeries or treatments that can devastate them and their bodies.

During an interview with Democrat Kal Penn on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” Biden commented on the efforts of Republican-led states, particularly Florida, to safeguard children from what they call “gender-affirming care.”

“It is not ‘sinful’ to prohibit the mutilation of minors,” DeSantis noted on Twitter. “It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures like sex change operations be allowed for kids.”

It is not "sinful" to prohibit the mutilation of minors.

It is not acceptable for the federal government to mandate that procedures like sex change operations be allowed for kids. https://t.co/YhPrrU5Poi

— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) March 14, 2023

Biden acknowledged during the interview that “gender-affirming care” is a difficult issue when it comes to children, but he emphasized that legislation should prevent states from interfering in this matter.

“Transgender kids is really a harder thing,” he said. “What’s going on in Florida is, as my mother would say, close to sinful.”

“It’s terrible what they’re doing. It’s not like a kid wakes up one morning and says, ‘You know, I decided I want to become a man’ or ‘I want to become a woman’ or ‘I want to change,’” Biden continued. “What are they thinking about here? They are human beings. They love. They have feelings. They have inclinations that are. … It just, to me, is, I don’t know is, it’s cruel.”

Biden recommended legislation as a solution to prevent states from taking action on the issue. He proposed that the federal government should “make sure we pass legislation like we passed with same-sex marriage. You mess with that, you’re breaking the law, and you’re going to be held accountable.”

Regarding the actions in Florida that Biden was criticizing, state medical boards voted in November to prohibit transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, and cross-sex hormones for minors. Furthermore, in February, the Florida Senate introduced a bill that would hold businesses accountable for the expenses associated with detransitioning if they had initially covered the medical expenses related to the transition.

In November, fresh off a huge reelection victory, laid out the path forward for the Republican Party during a 25-minute speech at the annual leadership meeting of the Republican Jewish Coalition.

DeSantis made clear there is no reason why Republicans can’t have better election results than they expected this midterm cycle in the years ahead, mostly by recounting GOP successes in the Sunshine State.

“We added four new Republican congressmen to the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Florida,” he said. “We secured supermajorities in the Florida legislature, the most Republicans we’ve ever had in Florida history.

“We helped elect 26 new conservative school board members all across the state of Florida. And we even won the state House seat that includes Miami Beach, not typically viewed as a Republican stronghold,” he continued.

“And because of the support of so many of you to our campaign, we delivered the greatest gubernatorial victory in the history of the state of Florida,” he continued. “We dominated with independent voters, we secured record margins with Hispanic voters, we swept the suburbs all across the state of Florida. Our margins with rural voters were gravity-defying, we won by double digits, Miami Dade County. We won for the first time in almost 40 years, Palm Beach County.”

He said those results ought to mean that Florida is providing a “blueprint for success” for all GOP candidates.