DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Ron DeSantis on Iowa Radio

"You've got to have vision, you've got to press forward, even when they're shooting at you. That's when you've got to stand strong."

Des Moines, IA - Amidst his fourth full day in a row in Iowa, Ron DeSantis joined KFAB's NewsRadio 1110 with Emery Songer and WHO's The Simon Conway Show. The highlights are below.

Listen to the full interview on KFAB radio here.

On his proven record of winning against the left:

Iowans want to see the country turned around. They want to see results. They're sick of the rhetoric. We've had so many Republicans get elected, they promise they're going to do this stuff, and nothing ever gets done. I have a record in Florida of delivering on 100% of my promises. If you look at all the things that are plaguing this country, the people that are responsible for that, I've beat them in Florida, whether it's on education, on crime, whether it's on beating Fauci on COVID, so we deliver. And I think they really want to see leadership on the border, on the economy, on reining in the bureaucracy and the administrative state. All these things that we know are a problem for this country, but we actually need to bring it in for a landing and get it done. And so I'm somebody that has a proven record of fighting for the people I represent. I have a record of winning big, not just with elections, but winning big on all these important issues. And then leading the charge, you've got to have vision, you've got to press forward, even when they're shooting at you. That's when you've got to stand strong. That's what we'll do, and that's what we'll do as president.

On the impact of Kim Reynolds' historic endorsement:

Well, it's huge. She's universally respected by Republican Iowa caucus-goers. When she says things like 'Governor DeSantis is the most effective leader she's seen,' that's important. That's a vote of confidence. She brings, of course, a whole organization to bear that she is now activating the turnout for us in the caucus. And I do think that there's a great relationship, in terms of policy success, between both Iowa and Florida. And I don't think it's any coincidence that as Republicans were flopping all around the country with the candidates that just couldn't get the job done, Iowa and Florida did deliver red waves. In fact, our wave in Florida was historic. It was the greatest Republican victory in Florida history in a governor's race. We swept in super majorities of the legislature, school boards, county commissions, the whole nine yards. It was an epic victory.

Listen to the full interview on WHO radio here.

On the top two top issues he will address on day one as president:

The border has been one of the grossest derelictions of duty that any President has had in the modern history of our country...they've let in 8 million people illegally. We have fentanyl pouring into every community killing tens of thousands of our fellow citizens. And as bad as Biden's been, it has to be said, Republicans have been complaining about the border for years and years. I'll be the president to finally bring an end to the problem. We will have military on the border, it'll be declared a national emergency on day one, we'll send back to people that Biden let in in particular, I'll build the border wall -- because if Trump had built the wall, Biden would not have led been able to let in this many people -- and we're going to hold the drug cartels accountable. So I think those two issues, and part of how you deal with the inflation and the interest rates is Biden and Congress are spending way too much money. We've got to go back to more reasonable levels of spending. I'll be a president that will lean in on that. We will get the interest rates down, which is going to be important for families to be able to afford homes. We are going to open up all energy for production domestically. That's going to lower energy costs. That influences prices and inflation in a positive way for consumers, and it makes our country more secure. And then things like the Green New Deal, enforcing electric vehicles, we're going to rip that up and throw that out on day one.

On the importance of securing the border to protect Americans:

I think the danger is when you have 8 million people coming illegally, do you not think that our enemies are not going to take advantage? Of course they are. We know people from China, Iran, other places in the Middle East have come through , and in pretty large numbers. So there's absolutely a high risk of terrorism as a result of what's happened. I think that the FBI and federal agencies, they need to stop worrying about politics, censorship, weaponizing their power, and they need to really focus on the bread and butter of what we need these agencies to be doing. And that's interdicting things like terrorism. But I think there's a high probability that there will be an attack that will be linked to the southern border. I can't tell you if it's going to happen tomorrow, or a year from now, or five years from now. But there's no way you can have that many people in here from so many countries that want to do us harm and not have people who are inclined to do that, and not have people who were sent for that reason. So I think it's a total disaster. I think our citizens are much less secure as a result of what Biden has done at the southern border. And the thing about all this is our adversaries, they look for ways where there's a lot of bang for the buck in order to trip us up. They do a lot of stuff on cyber, which is, you know, something we're always combating. Something like coming, sending people to the border, that's easy for them. That's a very low-cost option to be able to do that. A terrorist group, no problem. They are taking advantage of us, and our country's less safe as a result.