DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on America's Newsroom

"It's easy to say it from behind a keyboard. Step up on stage and do it to my face. I'm ready for it."

Tallahassee, FL - Ron DeSantis joined Bill Hemmer on Fox News' America's Newsroom. The highlights are below.

Watch the full interview HERE.

On calling out Trump for being Missing in Action:

[Trump's] Missing in Action, Bill. This is something you have to earn. Nobody is entitled to this. You know, I remember back in 2020, I had a big party in Tallahassee for that first debate that Trump did with Biden. And the reality is Biden beat Trump in that debate, and I don't know how you could lose the Biden in a debate, but that happened. And so we're in a situation now where we're not getting a mulligan on the 2024 election. We've had three election cycles in a row as Republicans where we've underperformed. Not in Florida, we set the standard in Florida, we have got to get this right. We see the country's in decline, we can't just be content with managing this decline, we've got to reverse it. We need an American revival. I think what we've shown in Florida is that it is possible to do. President Reagan was somebody when he came in, because we were in his library, people said it couldn't be done. We're in an era of limits, that the Carter performance was basically optimal at that point for America. Ronald Reagan rejected that. And I'm rejecting that here right now, and I have the ability to get the job done.

So he owes it to the voters to defend his record, to defend the decisions he's made. And also to defend why is he running on the same program in 2016, that he did not actually implement. For example, draining the swamp. He didn't fire Christopher Wray, he didn't fire Anthony Fauci. He didn't do anything to clean house. Now all of a sudden, he's going to slay the administrative state when he gave Fauci an award his last day in office? What about all the spending and debt. They racked up massive amounts of debt, particularly in his last year in office, of course, you're going to end up leading to inflation when you do that. So I think on a issue after issue, he owes it to the voters to come out and do it. And I'd say the final thing, Bill, he's had a lot to say about me on social media, really since 2022, right before the midterm election, he started attacking me when all Republicans were supposed to be united for a red wave. No, he tried to attack me, and he's been doing it a lot. You know, it's one thing to do it behind a keyboard. Step up on stage, and do it to my face. I'm ready for it. He used to say I was a great governor. Now all of a sudden, you're saying the opposite? Let's have that discussion. And I'll do it. We could do one on one. I was with Sean last night. Let's do that and let's give the American people the choice that they deserve.

On his military service:

Now my view on running is I want to tell you what I'm going to do for you. But when you're in a presidential situation, people kind of want to know what drives you and you know, I just pointed out I was a blue-collar kid working minimum wage jobs. I ended up getting degrees from Yale and Harvard Law School, coming out more conservative than when I went. I had a lot of opportunities to do very well financially. And coming from blue-collar roots, I think most people would have took that, but I felt the obligation to serve. I left a lot of money on the table, but being able to wear the uniform volunteering to go to Iraq. It's an important part of who I am. And I think as Commander in Chief, it will inform my judgments about how to do it. And then it was just interesting being back in California, where that was where we had deployed from, and that's where we came back. And it brought back a lot of old memories. We actually did an event on Sunday night at the VFW in Coronado. So we had a lot of great veterans and people are appreciative to have a veteran running for office.

On his approach to national security:

A lot of those Republicans, they're making the point of 'how do you do that while ignoring these massive problems here at home?' So for example, with our own southern border, and I also think an issue that was kind of raised last night we didn't get to flush out is Biden's policy is basically Europe First. He is not doing what he needs to do to deter China in the Indo-Pacific, he will say, and some of the people on the stage will say that the way you deter China is to continue Ukraine indefinitely, basically a blank check. I actually think China would benefit from a multi year quagmire, I think we need to bring that war in Europe to a conclusion. But we have to do more in the Indo Pacific, we don't have adequate hard power, so if somebody like Xi Jinping is looking at a Taiwan amphibious invasion, he's going to calculate what the resistance is. And if we have a strategy of denying him an ability to do that, successful deterrence strategy, that is going to make all the difference over the course of the next decade.

So my approach to national security is going to be take the China threat as the preeminent threat, make sure we're doing what we need to do to deter them in Asia, and then work with the European allies to get a sustainable peace in Europe. But they should be doing more than they have done. We have done an awful lot. And that's just the reality. But how do you leave your own border wide open? You know, there are Russians coming in, across the southern border right now, they are Iranians, Chinese, coming across the southern border, but they have to deal with their own country first. We have to I think what Americans are frustrated with is you have a ruling elite in DC that constantly ignore their concerns, and the things that they care about. And I think this border issue is one of those where they don't care about that but they're willing to hotline stuff all across the world. And so let's make sure we're taking care of our own folks first. And as President on day one, we will get the border, it'll be a front burner issue, and people are not going to have to worry about my commitment to that.

On the House's impeachment inquiry hearing:

This family is potentially the most corrupt presidential family in history. Joe Biden's already lied about the business dealings, we know that, we now see a quarter of a million dollars go into Biden's address from China. So this stinks to high heaven. They're right to do it and I support it. I would also point out that, you know, you talk about things like impeachment, one of the things is just violating your oath of office and I look at what's happening at the southern border, he took an oath to support and defend the Constitution, make sure that the laws are faithfully executed, and he has absolutely defaulted on that obligation. And we see the carnage that's happened. So I think there's a whole host of things to look at, but certainly this corruption is real. And they need to produce the goods of course, but where there's smoke, there's fire. And here's the thing, if all this was on the up and up, I don't think he would have been lying about it for all these years.