DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on Fox & Friends

"I wasn't worried about debating the moderators, really wasn't even worried about debating the other candidates as much as articulating my vision directly about how I'll fight for people, how we'll win these big fights, and how we'll lead the country to an American revival."

Tallahassee, FL - After his resounding win on the debate stage yesterday, Ron DeSantis today joined Fox & Friends live.

Watch the full interview HERE.

On winning last night's debate:

I spoke directly to the American people about the issues facing the country. I wasn't worried about debating the moderators, really wasn't even worried about debating the other candidates as much as articulating my vision directly about how I'll fight for people, how we'll win these big fights, and how we'll lead the country to an American revival. But then the other thing is, of all of them up there, I have a record of actually doing things. I mean, even on the Hamas-Israel I was able to save Biden abandoned Americans, he wasn't helping evacuate in the aftermath of the attack by Hamas, so I sent planes and we rescued 700+ Americans -- mostly Floridians, a lot of children. Some of them may have ended up becoming hostages. Then we're talking about the threat of the Chinese Communist Party. I banned China from buying land in the state of Florida. We kicked them out of our universities with these things like these Confucius Institutes, which do the ideology. So it's not just rhetoric with me. I've backed it up with actions. Ultimately, it's not just your words, it's your deeds. So people can trust me that everything I'm saying, I'm going to follow through on because that's exactly what I've done as governor.

On Donald Trump's empty promises:

He had a chance to show up, and he had a chance to make his case. He's choosing not to do that. I do think in these early states, these voters are starting to key in, and I do think it's going to hurt him. I think you saw some of these focus groups that said he should show up to debate. We've got Americans being held hostage right now by Hamas. I mean, the stakes are high. You have a responsibility to earn this nomination and also defend your record. I mean, he's running -- I saw the rally a little bit of it. And it reminded me like it's like deja vu all over again. You go back to 2016, he is saying a lot of the same things and promising a lot of the same things he didn't deliver on. Border wall built with Mexico paying for it didn't happen, drain the swamp didn't happen, reducing the debt didn't happen. We added more. So why not get on that stage and explain and then articulate how you're going to do a better job the next time. So I think it is going to hurt him if he doesn't show up. I'm going to show up. I'm going to be at the debates. I'm going to be on the ground in the early states, and we're going to earn it.

On Republican losses under Donald Trump:

But the idea that he is responsible for Florida's success is absurd. And when he says he endorses, and somehow that means -- if his endorsement was so important, why have Republicans been losing so many of these races where he's endorsed? We have fewer governors than when he got elected president, fewer US senators, fewer US House members.

On American airstrikes in the Middle East:

I did see the map, and you have places like al-Assad airbase and some of these other places that we were involved in, and for sure, it's sad to see that. So here, when we have American troops in harm's way, we do not let hostile enemies take potshots at us without an appropriate response. And Joe Biden is basically allowing the Iranians to attack our troops. And his responses are underwhelming, so it's just inviting more attacks. And so just from a normal perspective, now, I would also say this, what is their mission there? Biden hasn't really articulated what their mission there is, presumably some type of counterterrorism mission. But I would note, we have terrorists coming in across our southern border. He's not doing anything about to stop that. And we know, unfortunately, that that's the truth. So I think we get into trouble if we're putting our troops in places where we don't have a clear mission or clear objective. Iraq's government at this point, yes, there's a Sunni-Shia conflict, but it's like, okay, the Shia government is aligned with Iran. They're hostile to the United States, and we have our troops in there to potentially prop that government up? So it's really an odd situation. But clearly, I think he's inviting more attacks on our troops.