DeSantis Campaign Press Release - DeSantis Files for Candidacy in Florida, Speaks at RPOF Freedom Summit

People want to see that you're willing to fight for them... A fighter is there when it's difficult. A fighter may be your lone voice on issues that matter to you."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ron DeSantis spent a day campaigning with First Lady Casey DeSantis in the free state of Florida at the Republican Party of Florida's Annual Freedom Summit.

They were greeted by a strong crowd of cheering Floridians as they arrived in Kissimmee. One voter told DeSantis that she moved to the Sunshine State because of him!

Then, DeSantis officially filed for candidacy in the state of Florida in a room packed full of supporters. He was joined by Lt. Governor Jeannette Nunez, Attorney General Ashley Moody, and Florida Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, as well as the First Lady and their son Mason.

Both Casey DeSantis and Ron DeSantis delivered remarks at the RPOF Freedom Summit. Here are some highlights from the First Lady's remarks:

On why Ron DeSantis is the strong leader that America needs:

He put himself in front of an oncoming freight train to defend the people of this state. He's done it his entire time in office. He's done it every day. He will continue to do it every day of the week and twice on Sunday. While he is still governor, he is a leader. One with integrity, courage, strength, morals, discipline, and a heck of a lot of fight. And you don't have to guess the next time a crisis comes our way how Ron DeSantis will respond. And it's not a matter of when one comes or if one comes. It's a matter of when. It's inevitable. Because this is our time for choosing. As Reagan would say, we are not one generation away from losing America. We are one election. We don't have the luxury of sitting this one out and hoping that things get better because in my opinion, if the Democrats get control, they will fundamentally transform this country.

On responding to criticisms in the media:

You know, it's funny, these hits from the media, some of them are so funny. They're just laughable. So I had a friend the other day, she called me, this was a little while ago. She was like, 'Casey, they're hitting you.' And so they're hitting me, like what did I do, you know, standing up for parents rights, for our children, you know, those sorts of things? Like, they're hitting me? She goes, 'Yes. Do you know what they're calling you?' And I said, No. What are they calling me? She said, 'Walmart Melania.' I said, I was like, awesome. I guess the greatest thing you could call me for me to be in the same sentence of Melania is a wonderful thing. Guilty as charged, I shop at Walmart. I have a six, five and a three year old and they grow out of these clothes. I need two- dollar T-shirts and especially with Bidenflation and Bidenomics, everything is getting more expensive.

On how DeSantis led with courage and conviction during COVID authoritarianism:

And they were saying basically, you got to tell the governor he needs to shut down the state and use the forced vaccine mandates. He needs to force mask...he needs to do all of this stuff because his whole political career will be over unless he does all of these things. You have to look at the polls, they'll never recover as a result of this. And I would watch him day after day after day. You would get up. You would go downstairs, you would get a cup of coffee. He would grab his notebook, he would arm himself with the data and the evidence coming out of places like the United Kingdom and Spain and Sweden. He would talk to people who are being silenced on Twitter, Dr. Bhattacharya...I have watched him so daily arm himself with the truth, the data, the evidence, the courage, and the strength of his convictions.

Then, Ron DeSantis took the stage as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. DeSantis began by noting he doesn't need a teleprompter. He said,

"Can we get rid of these teleprompters?...I don't think we need those in Florida. Let's get those down. You've got to speak from the heart. It's not about reading from the teleprompter."

Watch his full speech here.

On why Florida is the conservative model for the future:

Florida has shown the way forward for the Republican Party. We show how this policy was very good. What is our model? How have we been able to do this? And I think it's very simple. In Florida, we fight for you. In Florida, we win for us, and in Florida, we leave the state to a better future. That's it what's missing too often in the Republican Party, but also just across the country. People want to see that you're willing to fight for them. It's very easy to do the right thing when the wind's at your back. The question is, when the media is after you, the left when they're taking shots at you, are you going to be willing to dig in and do what's right even in the face of opposition? Because if you're not willing to do it, then the leadership and all the stuff we need is not there. A fighter is there when it's difficult. A fighter may be your lone voice on issues that matter to you.

On what he'll do to bring back the American Dream:

We are going to lower your gas prices by opening up all American energy resources. Our production needs to be more secure. We will also finally restore the sovereignty of our country. We will ensure that our border is no longer being controlled by Mexican drug cartels and being overrun...when people come in illegally, you don't just sit down, throw up your hands. You send them back to their home country. We will build the border wall and we are going to have countries like Mexico pay for it, not because they're just going to fork over money--of course not. We're going to impose fees on the remittances that foreign workers send to countries like Mexico and Central America. That will raise billions of dollars and it will go to construct a border wall. We are going to hold the Mexican drug cartels accountable for what they are doing to our society. We're going to authorize the use deadly military force... It's important that we revitalize our nation's military on day one as commander in chief. I will take out all the social engineering...We're going to make sure to disentangle our own economy from China, which they've made a fortune off of us, and we're going to make sure China is not allowed to exert influence here in the United States. And things we've done in Florida, like not letting them purchase land...we need to do that all across America, down to your military bases in South Carolina. We will have a policy that's very simple with respect to the CCP--we win and they lose... We're going to have a country where the school systems in our country are dedicated solely to educating kids, not to indoctrinating kids. We're going to uphold the rights of the parents. To make sure major things like CRT aren't in school, we are going to make sure that our kids, like we have in Florida, are learning American civics again, learning about our constitutional rights and our founding fathers. We're going to also make sure that whether you live in a red state or a blue city, that criminals are held responsible for their crimes again. You're not going to let the inmates run the asylum. You're not going to let prosecutors get away with not enforcing the law. We are going to make sure that every American family has a right to raise their kids in peace and security. We will restore the law from sea to shining sea.

On his duty to protect the flame of American freedom:

What we're all called upon to do, is do justice to the sacrifices of people that have come before us. To make sure to preserve what George Washington called the sacred fire of liberty. This is a fire that burned in Independence Hall in 1776, when 56 men pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor so that they could found a new nation conceived in liberty. It's the fire that burned at a cemetery in Gettysburg, when our nation's first Republican President pledged this nation to a new birth of freedom. It's a fire that burned when the boys who stormed the beaches of Normandy helped end Nazism and helped save freedom throughout the world. It is a fire that arrived at the foot of the Berlin Wall when a resolute President stood in front of the Brandenburg Gate and said 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.' And it is our responsibility to carry this torch. It's not a responsibility that we should run from. It's a responsibility that we should welcome, that we have an opportunity to make a difference. So there's going be a lot that happens in this country over the next weeks and months. But I'll tell you this, I will get the job done as your nominee. We will not only win the presidency or win the Congress or win the Senate, we'll win state legislatures and school boards, just like we did in the state of Florida. As a leader, I'll always conduct myself in a way that you can be proud of. And as your President, I promise you this: I will not let you down.