DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis Holds Campaign Event with Florida Sheriffs

"We need law and order in this country more than ever. And we're going to bring that about."

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ron DeSantis held a campaign event in Tampa with Florida sheriffs after receiving endorsements from 60 bipartisan Florida sheriffs. The highlights are below.

Watch the full event HERE.

On the importance of supporting law enforcement officers:

This country needs to take a page out of Florida's playbook when it comes to law and order. We need law and order in this country more than ever. And we're going to bring that about. First of all, it matters to have a governor like I've been, and it will matter to have a President of the United States like I will be, that will stand up and defend the people that wear the uniform, the law enforcement community, it's important to do that.

On protecting American families:

And my promise is very simple, whether you live in a red state, whether you live in a blue city, whether you live in a blue state, it shouldn't matter; the people that commit crimes must be brought to justice. They must be put in jail when they're committing serious crimes. Every American family has the right to be able to work hard and raise their kids in peace, with stability, and with law and order. And we're going to make sure from sea to shining sea, that the rule of law once again prevails in this country, and that people have a chance to do well regardless of what party is elected to be the mayor or to be the prosecutor. And that's going to make this country much stronger. We're going to get that done.

On removing Soro-backed prosecutors:

One of the worst things that's happened over the last decade is the election of prosecutors, oftentimes with funding by liberal activists like George Soros, where they get elected and then they say they're not going to enforce laws that they disagree with. And so, in places like San Francisco, Los Angeles, these people that are getting mugged, a lot of times the perpetrator isn't prosecuted. And so, they commit all these different crimes and eventually they end up committing a really, really heinous crime. And people say, 'Oh, gee, why didn't somebody do something in the past?' Well, this is intentional, what's going on. I can tell you in Florida, we had an example in Tampa, we had an example in Orlando, and we took action and removed them from their post, because we're not going to put the public safety in jeopardy. It's not going to happen in the state of Florida.

As President, we're going to use the authorities of the executive branch and all relevant agencies to hold Soros funded prosecutors accountable for their misconduct. We're not going to let our cities crumble anymore. We're not going to let people be victimized to no end by people that have a political agenda, and they're imposing that political agenda on the public in ways that, yes, people are dying, people are fleeing the cities. We can't succeed as a country, if every urban area ends up being hollowed out because of runaway crime. So, we're going to do something about it.

On earning every single vote:

The component that matters more than anything, is a candidate that's going to go earn people's votes. Nobody is entitled to be nominated. Nobody, especially anybody that couldn't even stop Joe Biden, you are not entitled to be nominated. You've got to earn the nomination, you've got to show how you're going to be able to get the job done, how you're going to be able to make these changes that are necessary for the country. So, we're on the ground, we're earning it from people, town by town, county by county, doing all that stuff. And that is not necessarily a question of dollars and cents, although you need that to be able to do different things. But that's just a question of who's going to earn it, who's going to put the work in. And you know what, not that the campaign is the same as actually doing the job, but we need a president that's got energy, we need a president that's going to be full throttle for eight years.

On building the border wall and making Mexico pay for it:

It's interesting though, I will actually get the wall built because we do need it built. But you can't just sloganeer about it, you actually got to get it done. And so we were in Iowa on Sunday. Donald Trump was there doing a rally and he started talking about his famous promise to build a wall and have Mexico pay for it. And obviously that didn't happen. He said, 'Well, look, there was never any way I could make Mexico'. He's like, 'you can't just ask them to pay. There was no legal mechanism to get it done.' He's like rationalizing this. That was not what he said at the rallies in 2016. I was there for those rallies. But it's also not true. You actually can get Mexico to pay for the wall. How do you do it? No, you don't just go to them and demand it. What you do is you impose fees on all remittances that are sent back to Mexico and other countries, it's billions and billions of dollars that we would be able to raise and then put towards building the border wall. So one of the things I like to point out to people is every promise I made as governor, I've delivered on 100%, I'll do the same as president. But not only that, I'm going to deliver on other people's promises. So I will follow and deliver on Donald Trump's promise to build the wall and have Mexico pay for it. We'll get that done too.

On his leadership to turn Florida into a red state:

He won by three, I won by 20. So, I don't know what you think is better. We won the best election that any Republican governor candidate has ever done in the history of Florida. We have super majorities in the legislature. But what I noticed, you know, when you do these elections, it's all about, you know, banking the votes that you need. And so, I remember in the 2020 election, you know, Biden just stayed in his basement, you know, and it's like, he wasn't really doing anything. But you know what the Democrats were doing, they were cleaning our clock in Nevada, and Georgia, they were harvesting votes, they were doing all this stuff. Now, we banned ballot harvesting in Florida, and it should be banned. It's wrong. But I'm going to tell you this, as your candidate, if harvesting is allowed in a state, I'm harvesting, I'm going to get the votes that we need to win. I'm not going to fight with one hand tied behind my back. I'm not going to whine about it. I'm going to look at the battlefield and I'm going to execute a plan to be able to win and to be able to win big.

People will act like in 2020, they're like, you know, Biden was such a disaster. But here's the thing, I don't think anybody voted for Biden, okay. They were voting against Trump. That was why they did it. I mean, let's just be honest, he energized Democrats--, you could have John Kennedy walk through the door right now, and he wouldn't energize Democrats, as much as Donald Trump does. That's just the reality. What did we do in Florida with these Democrats? We defeated these Democrats. We left the Democratic Party in Florida, in a pile of ruins. They're dead.

On the importance of delivering results for the American people:

We need to get the country back to where political controversy is not dominating our lives, not dominating our society. And so, with me as president, it's just going to be wake up, execute the mission. You know, go back, tuck my kids into bed and read them stories, go back the next day, execute, come back and do it. It's all about delivering results. I'm sick of the fanfare. I'm sick of the entertainment, politics as entertainment. I'm sick of all the distractions and all the hoopla and all this other stuff. Now is the time to focus 100% of our energy on the American people and what we need to do to turn the country around.