DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis Live on Fox & Friends and the Hugh Hewitt Show

"As a party, if we can't stand for the well-being of children, then what good are we?"

Tallahassee, FL - Ron DeSantis this morning joined both Fox & Friends and Salem Radio's The Hugh Hewitt Show following his victory in the fourth RNC debate last night. The highlights are below.

Watch the full interview on Fox & Friends here.

On how parents do not have the right to abuse their kids:

Chris and Nikki both support these gender transition surgeries for minors. That's mutilation. We passed legislation in Florida saying you cannot do that. They say, oh, it's parents' rights. You don't have a right to abuse your kid as a parent. And that was very telling when we did that on the stage. So as a party, if we can't stand for the well-being of children, then what good are we? We know the Democrats won't. I did the debate against Gavin Newsom. California has laws, kids can go behind their parent's backs from other states, minors, and get this transition surgery... You don't have a right to abuse your kids. That's been the law for forever. You know, you can't take a 12 year old and get them a tattoo, it's just, you got to be a certain age. But yet somehow you can chop off their private parts? Give me a break. And you know, what Nikki said in there, it shows you, first of all, she was talking about a different bill, our parents' rights in education, which had nothing to do with this. So she was dissembling because she knows she's not good. She called it the don't say gay bill. That's what the Liberals tried to call it. That is a false narrative. That's what the corporate media does. And it shows she buys into these left-wing narratives, the fact that she used that term for that bill, which had nothing to do with the mutilation. But they believe that somehow this is a parent right, even though it's irreversible, and it's very damaging, and many other countries have said we can't do it.

On how he's inspired by Calvin Coolidge:

Calvin Coolidge was probably the most constitutionally sound president we've had in the last 100 years. When he was president, the country did very well. He was right on almost every issue that he tackled. He had a very successful presidency. You know, and he's kind of, you know, he wasn't as flashy or whatever, but he got the job done, and he understood that. And there's a story, famous story, because he was known as silent Cal, there was a woman that went up to him. She said, Mr. President, I have a bet that I could get you to say more than two words. He looked at her, deadpanned, and said, you lose.

On how Nikki Haley is not the conservative she says she is:

They're spending millions of dollars trying to attack me, so of course we're going to fight back. The surge is more of a media thing. You're not seeing it on the ground with conservative voters. In fact, conservative voters don't support her. I mean, that's just the reality. But people are responsible for their record. She runs saying she's so tough on China. She was the number one governor in South Carolina when she was there of bringing China into her state. We posted the letter on our website where she was saying how great they were to the ambassador, and then the video of her in front of a Chinese flag at this Chinese company in South Carolina, where she says that she works for them now as governor. And so that's just the reality. Now she's singing a different tune. But notice, she was really bragging about these liberal Wall Street donors who are now supporting her. These are people that supported Hillary Clinton. These are people that have opposed Donald Trump in the past. They will not allow strong policies.

Listen to part one of the interview with Hugh Hewitt here and part two here.

On Ivy League schools' refusal to condemn Hamas:

I think what this is revealed is the rot and the sickness that's been festering inside higher education for a long time. And you understand that, Hugh, a lot of your listeners do. But I think now the broader public is seeing this and I think that they're appalled by what was going on. And I would put in a plug for Florida, and say how we've done it differently. If you look at how, say, Ben Sasse, who's the president of the University of Florida, has handled the post October 7th, matters, much different moral clarity, things that you can be proud of. And we need universities that are going to serve a function of pursuing truth and preparing students to be citizens of the Republic. They should not be these hotbeds of anti-Americanism and antisemitism but that's what they become. And I think back to my time, and I joke when I'm out on the campaign trail speaking with Republican primary voters, I say, 'listen, I'm one of the few people that have gone through both Harvard and Yale and came out more conservative than when I went in.' That's not easy to do. And everyone acknowledged that, they all kind of get it. But back in my day, you would not have had, I think, this level of vitriol like you have now. It has gotten much worse.

On participating in more debates:

I do think we are going to have debate, I think we're going to have a debate in Iowa. And I think we're going to have a debate in New Hampshire. I don't know that the RNC is going to put it on. But I don't think that they're going to block it. And we need to do that in those two early states, I think it's very important. Hopefully, they'll raise the thresholds for qualifying. And it may end up just being a one on one debate. And of course, if the former President is willing to show up and debate, then doing three I think would be really, really good but it's an important part of the process.

On how he will de-politicize the DOJ:

We're going to have an attorney general that's going to set the tone and do it. I think you need to move parts of justice outside of Washington, DC. I mean, for example, put the Civil Rights Division in Oklahoma or Arkansas, I think that that will draw different types of people. I don't think the very partisan DC lawyers would be willing to move and go out there. So you're going to have an opportunity to have some significant turnover, but it can't just be-- yes, you need a strong Attorney General. Yes, you need strong deputies. And you have to fill those positions, you have to send those nominations on January 3rd of 2025 when the new senate is sworn in, you got to be ready to go. And there's no substitute for that. But the big problem with Justice is the career folks are very partisan and the media likes to say, 'well, their career, they're not political.' No. The fact that they're career, that doesn't mean that they don't have an agenda, it just means they're not political appointees, but 99% of the political donations from rank and file people at DOJ go to Democrats. So how can you say that somehow, it's not politicized. So it is, so I think the problem is much deeper than just the upper echelon, and we're going to have to get in there and do something about it.