DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on KDTH's Voices of the Tri-States

"The reason why prices are where they are is because Congress borrowed, printed, and spent trillions and trillions of dollars starting with COVID in March of '20, and they kept doing it. You can't just do that infinitum without having there be a response."

Tallahassee, FL - Ron DeSantis today joined KDTH's Cindy Kohlmann on Voices of the Tri-States. The highlights are below.

Listen to the full interview HERE.

On California's failed leftist policies:

If it's about greed, then why is California's [gas] $7 and other parts of the country is $3.50, $3.75 -- which is also still too high? It's because California has very left-wing policies. They drive up the cost of everything. [We did] a press conference to hold both Joe Biden and Gavin Newsom accountable for their ridiculous obsession with mandating electric vehicles and electric trucks. And that's something that's important in Iowa because liquid fuels is such an important part of the economy in the Midwest, but particularly Iowa. So I've said we're going to get rid of these EV mandates. If people want to buy it, that's one thing. But to force this down everybody's throat, it's not good for the economy, it's not good for prices and inflation, and it's going to make us more dependent on China because they're the ones that mine the things that go into these electrical vehicles. But they actually want to make big rigs electric. So the port [in Los Angeles], a big rig would have 100 mile radius, and then it would need to charge again for hours. How is that good for the supply chain? How is that good for jobs here? So they have a certain vision of imposing mandates, restricting, telling people what to do. That causes everything to be more expensive. And so you're going to see fuel prices be even higher in California.

On reversing Bidenomics and reviving American energy dominance:

My wife and I, we've got six, five, and three-year-olds. I mean, just going through the drive thru with them to get them lunch now, you see it and you feel it. Forget about affording a new house right now with interest rates being 8%. Forget about a new car; the price of cars have gone up 70%. So this is a really significant squeeze on hardworking Americans. We're going to do a few things. One, we're going to fight back against the Congress, who's trying to spend too much money. The reason why prices are where they are is because Congress borrowed, printed, and spent trillions and trillions of dollars starting with COVID in March of '20, and they kept doing it. You can't just do that infinitum without having there be a response. And inflation is a response, and so we've got to moderate that. And I will be willing to veto excessive spending like I did in Florida. By the way, in Florida, we've paid down 25% of our state's total debt that has accumulated since statehood, so we know what we're doing. Second, we're going to take all of Biden's mandates, executive orders, regs, and we're going to throw them in the trash can. This bureaucracy and what they're trying to do is holding back the economy. It's making things more expensive. We're going to provide relief. And then finally, this energy dominance. We have the ability to use resources here. We can produce American energy. It's cleaner, it's better than energy elsewhere, and that will allow Our prices -- not just at the pump, but this permeates the entire economy.

On reducing dependance on communist China:

We're going to declare economic independence from China. What's happened is we've relied so much on China for all these things that are integral to our way of life and economy. And I'm talking about things like for military equipment. I'm talking about things for pharmaceuticals, medical, all these things. And so we are going to reshore supply chains here in the United States. Part of that is by holding China accountable for ripping us off, and then incentivizing more production here in the United States. It also means training young people to be able to go into skilled trades. And that's kind of been a lost art over the last generation. People have said everyone needs to go to a four-year brick and ivy University. And while I think we have some great universities, and I think there's options there, that's not necessarily the best option for everybody. We'll be able to build more manufacturing here if we have a pipeline from both high schools and trade schools into these professions. In Florida, we now have vocational education in our middle schools, and we graduate high school students with certifications in things like welding, aviation mechanics, all things that are really important. There's jobs available there. And so having the good environment, holding China accountable, and then providing that skilled workforce, I think we can have a manufacturing renaissance in this country. And it's important. I mean, look, we're a country with an economy, not the other way around. Being able to build things, make things, being able to have a strong industrial base -- that's just an important part of being a strong country.