"I don't think protecting life is a terrible thing. I think it's a noble cause."
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ron DeSantis today joined Simon Conway on WHO's The Simon Conway Show. The highlights are below.
Listen to the full interview HERE.
On his plan to revive American energy dominance:
We just put out a really strong energy policy when we were out in West Texas, in Midland. We need this country to be energy dominant. We can produce untold amounts of energy in ways that will benefit the American people, benefit businesses, benefit jobs, and most importantly, benefit our national security. Biden's policy makes us weaker against China, Russia, Iran, and Venezuela. Our energy policy will give us a huge competitive advantage over all those countries that don't have our best interests at heart.
On the upcoming debate:
I do think that anytime you have an ability to speak to large numbers of people--I don't know how many people watched the last debate, I heard it was over 10 million, I don't know how many people are going to watch this, but it'll definitely be in the millions--that's a great opportunity for you to be able to do. I can tell you, in my case, the liberal media is not going to carry my message in a positive way. I mean, they're going to whack me. They view me as a threat, and that's how they're going to do it, so it is good to be able to speak directly to people in their homes.
On Donald Trump's criticism of Florida's heartbeat bill:
We did a heartbeat protection act similar to what Governor Reynolds signed in Iowa that protects babies that have a detectable heartbeat. I think every single person that considers themselves pro-life thinks that that's positive, that you're saving lives. And the former President, Donald Trump, said that heartbeat legislation like Iowa did, and like Florida did, he called it a, quote, terrible thing. I don't think protecting life is a terrible thing. I think it's a noble cause. And so I've not only said that I support a culture of life, we've delivered on that in Florida, and we would be able to stand credibly for the cause of life as president. I think the fact that he's now running against states like Iowa that have done pro-life legislation, that's a major change from how he ran in 2015 or 2016. I thought his comments were totally unacceptable. I rejected him in total. Your Governor, Kim Reynolds, put out a very strong statement saying that it's not terrible to stand for life, it's the right thing to do. And so, I think that that may end up being a dividing line, just because he's flipped his position in a way that I think most Iowa caucus goers are going to find very, very troubling.
On securing the border and stopping the invasion:
Most importantly, we're going to treat the drug cartels as foreign terrorist organizations. We're going to use deadly force against them, particularly when they're bringing fentanyl across the border. We've lost 10s of 1000s of Americans each and every year since this fentanyl outbreak. And since we've had the cartels moving this into our country, I run into angel moms who have lost kids from fentanyl overdose. And the thing about it is, some of these kids, you know, they're studying, they're stressed. They're in college, and they think they're taking like a Xanax, and it turns out it's laced with fentanyl, and they take it and it's fatal and they die. And then you have a mother that has lost a child. And this is happening all over our country. The carnage is unbelievable. And yet Joe Biden, he's missing in action on this. He's not doing anything to take care of it. I don't want to see those fentanyl deaths. I don't want to see the cartels, sex trafficking and human trafficking people into our country any longer. I don't want to see communities overwhelmed with massive numbers of illegal aliens like you see at the Texas border and throughout our country. I will be the president that finally brings this border issue to a conclusion. We've heard a lot of talk about it over many years. Now is the time to get the job done and I will get the job done.
On doing what's right as a leader and not bending to pressure:
_I get attacked now by the media because they say, 'some mega donor is criticizing him for this or that.' And I'm just thinking to myself, 'wait a minute, is that a bad thing that I'm doing what I believe in, regardless of what the donors say?' Would you rather have a candidate who is just trying to kowtow to people that are wealthy? No, you want a candidate who is going to do what they think is right and lead. And what I say is, people can support me or not. Obviously, I want to get as much support across all fronts as possible, but I'm not going to twist myself into a pretzel. I'm going to do what I think is righ_t.
Ron DeSantis, DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on the Simon Conway Show Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/367788