Florida governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis speaks throughout a press convention on the Have fun Freedom Basis Hangar in West Columbia, S.C., Tuesday, July 18, 2023. DeSantis visited South Carolina to file his 2024 candidacy for president. Sean Rayford, Related Press
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis shall be in Utah on Friday as he tries to rev up his marketing campaign. His go to comes on the heels of an interview on CNN on Tuesday the place he mentioned he desires to take the “woke” out of the navy.
Utah state Sen. Todd Weiler, who has endorsed the Florida governor, confirmed to the Deseret Information that DeSantis would go to the state Capitol on Friday afternoon, the place he'll maintain a press convention. Weiler mentioned he believes DeSantis additionally has a number of personal occasions deliberate throughout his go to.
“I feel (Donald) Trump’s at all times struggled slightly bit in Utah,” Weiler mentioned. “And lots of people I’m speaking to, together with people who have been huge Trump supporters in 2016 and 2020, appear to be inclined to go in one other course.”
When requested why he was supporting DeSantis, Weiler mentioned he was searching for a candidate who shares his values and “somebody who has an opportunity of profitable.”
“DeSantis, I feel, is the one Republican apart from Trump proper now who has an opportunity of profitable. And my greatest concern is that if we nominate Trump once more as a celebration, that he’ll lose once more, and so I'd slightly attempt one thing totally different.”
However whereas he’s held on in second place, DeSantis has fallen additional behind the previous president within the nationwide polls, at the same time as Trump faces a attainable third slate of federal expenses, this time associated to his actions after the 2020 election.
DeSantis was requested about information of attainable new expenses towards Trump in an interview with Jake Tapper on CNN on Tuesday, and whereas DeSantis mentioned he doesn’t assume Trump must be charged, he additionally mentioned it was time to “look ahead.”
“This nation goes down the highway of criminalizing political variations, and I feel that’s fallacious,” he advised Tapper, including he believes the FBI and the Division of Justice have been “weaponized towards individuals they don’t like.”
However, he was fast to say, at the same time as he hopes Trump gained’t be charged, he doesn’t need Republicans to need to concentrate on the 2020 election in 2024.
“If I’m the nominee, we’ll be capable to concentrate on President (Joe) Biden’s failures and I’ll be capable to articulate a constructive imaginative and prescient for the long run,” he mentioned. “I don’t assume it serves us good to have a presidential election targeted on what occurred 4 years in the past.”
Whereas in South Carolina on Tuesday to file paperwork to be on the poll within the early major state, DeSantis additionally launched his navy coverage, referred to as “mission first,” based mostly on his perception that the navy must return to its major mission.
In his interview with Tapper, he mentioned he plans to “rip the woke” from the U.S. navy and refocus protection efforts on “lethality,” whereas additionally declaring he’s the one veteran working for president this 12 months.
DeSantis, who served within the Navy from 2004 to 2019, together with assignments in Guantanamo and Iraq, mentioned “woke” insurance policies are “altering the character of the navy.”
“It’s altering the tradition of our companies, and it’s making a scenario wherein nice warriors have been pushed away. And recruiting is at an all-time low.”
His plan contains eradicating range, fairness and inclusion places of work from the Pentagon, prohibiting transgender People who've transitioned from serving within the navy, and increasing the navy’s recruitment efforts amongst younger individuals.
On international coverage, DeSantis mentioned he’d wish to pivot from specializing in Europe to focusing America’s efforts within the Asia-Pacific area, and he’d like European nations to do extra to make sure safety there.
On Ukraine, he mentioned the U.S. mustn't “reward aggression,” however mentioned he wish to carry a “sustainable and enduring peace” to the area by placing stress on Russia over its vitality exports and its relationship with Iran.
Tapper additionally requested DeSantis about his willingness to signal federal laws on abortion, after he signed a invoice in Florida that bans abortion after six weeks of being pregnant.
DeSantis mentioned he's pro-life and can be a pro-life president.
“I assume the hazard from Congress is that if we lose the election, they’re going to attempt to nationalize abortion up till the second of beginning,” he mentioned.
He additionally mentioned he’d reverse a Pentagon coverage that pays for service members to journey to obtain abortions.
Responding to questions on his lack of ability to climb within the polls, DeSantis pushed again on the “narrative” that he's shedding.
“I'd additionally simply observe Jake, there's a narrative ... they’ve been saying that I’ve been doing poorly for my entire time as governor, principally,” he mentioned. “Throughout COVID, oh, , he has the state open, he’s going to lose. Then he fought Disney, he’s going to lose. They at all times wish to get there and it by no means fairly works out.”
He mentioned he’s targeted on constructing out his marketing campaign in early major states like New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.
Contributing: Katie McKellar