"I think that Nikki Haley was clearly flustered and rattled because she's uncomfortable being confronted with her record. I'm proud of my record in Florida of beating the left of delivering on my promises."
DES MOINES, Iowa – Ron DeSantis today joined Hannity live on Fox News Channel. The highlights are below.
Watch the full interview HERE.
On winning the debate against Nikki Haley last night:
Last night was a great night for us. I think that Nikki Haley was clearly flustered and rattled because she's uncomfortable being confronted with her record. I'm proud of my record in Florida of beating the left of delivering on my promises, and I'm proud of the vision we have for this country. So when that debate ended, we had people going to rondesantis.com, signing up to help. More people been going to the website to donate. So that's a great sign for us.
On his organized ground game in Iowa:
A caucus is just different than a typical election because it's about organization, it's about turning your people out. We've built an incredible organization. I've gone to all 99 counties. I've answered questions from Iowans all across the state. That is not necessarily what coastal media likes to see. They think you're spending too much time listening to people. I disagree with that. But it does pay off on caucus night. Now with this weather, I think the organization is going to matter even more because going out in negative 20 degrees, unless you're really committed to voting, that's an easy reason why you wouldn't want to go. So we've got that in place. We're continuing to gather more folks. I've done a number of events today, Sean, people are coming out in big numbers, even in the weather. We're going to do an event right after this. I got a big crowd right now here in the Des Moines area. So people are definitely getting excited about this race. We've seen energy on the ground. But Monday, the story is: organization, organization, organization. I think we've done it right, and I'm looking forward to being able to take that through.
On the impact the weather will have on the Caucus:
A caucus is just different than a typical election because it's about organization. It's about turning your people out. We've built an incredible organization. I've gotten all 99 counties. I've answered questions from Iowans all across the state. That is not necessarily what coastal media likes to see. They think you're spending too much time listening to people. I disagree with that, [I think that] that it does pay off on caucus night. Now with this weather, I think the organization is going to matter even more, because going out in negative 20 degrees, unless you're really committed to voting, that's an easy reason why you wouldn't want to go. So we've got that in place. We're continuing to gather more folks. I've done a number of events today. People are coming out in big numbers, even in the weather. We're going to do an event right after this. I got a big crowd right now here in the Des Moines area. So people are definitely getting excited about this race. We've seen energy on the ground. But Monday the story is organization, organization, organization. I think we've done it right. And I'm looking forward to being able to take that through.
On the record number of blue state refugees who flee to Florida:
The number of people that retire out of FDNY, NYPD, Port Authority -- where do they go? I mean, some of them obviously, stay in the tri-state area, but a lot of them move to Florida. I mean, we've got a massive number of folks retired here who were active on 9/11 and responded to the Twin Towers. So, you know, they're getting New York pension payments, and they're spending it in Florida. And you're right, we have half the budget with much better results. Our state government in Florida is the smallest of employees per capita in the entire country. It just shows you the people in New York are getting taxed for your state government to waste the tax dollars because we're doing better with half the footprint. But I also think what you showed with vocal and Cuomo, there's this movement amongst the left to try to demand a one-party state and to try to weaponize government against conservatives. It's not surprising that you've seen that with that line of thinking I think it's really dangerous.
Ron DeSantis, DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Ron DeSantis on Hannity Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/370652