Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis opened up about his wife’s battle with cancer during an interview with Piers Morgan set to air Thursday night.
DeSantis’ wife, Casey, was diagnosed with breast cancer in Oct. 2021, with the governor announcing in March of 2022 that his wife was cancer free.
The governor said the worst moment of his wife’s struggle with cancer was getting the diagnosis, according to the New York Post.
“The beginning [was the worst] because she went to the doctor, she felt something, but the doctor cleared her. They did a physical exam, said that ‘You didn’t have anything, don’t worry,’ and like me, if the doctor said I’m OK, I would never think twice about it,” DeSantis recounted, according to the Post. “She had a feeling that there was just something wrong. So, she really fought to get a mammogram and so a couple of weeks later, we got it. I told her, ‘You’re fine,’ and then it came back (positive) and that was really, really difficult. It totally changes your life, changes your family’s trajectory.” (RELATED: Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis Appears To Fire Back At Gov. Newsom Over Special Olympics Comment)
“Everything all of a sudden is up for grabs,” he continued. “So, I think that was one of the most difficult moments. And then I would say the chemotherapy. It just saps you. It’s putting like poison in your body and to see someone that you love go through that, it was really tough on her, but it’s also just, you hate to see it.”
“I got attacked by the left for not being in the office one day, but I was at the cancer center with her when they were saying that I wasn’t doing my job,” DeSantis added.
The governor accompanied his wife to a round of chemotherapy in Dec. 2021, prompting criticism from the left over his absence. Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez accused DeSantis of being “inexplicably missing” while MSNBC’s Joy Reid said in a tweet that he was on “vacation.”
Hasn’t Gov. DeSantis been inexplicably missing for like 2 weeks?
If he’s around, I would be happy to say hello. His social media team seems to have been posting old photos for weeks.
In the meantime, perhaps I could help with local organizing. Folks are quite receptive here 🙂 https://t.co/LmmqT8eLDh
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 31, 2021
DeSantis also added that he felt “confident” Casey would beat the cancer because he’s a “data guy” and all the numbers pointed to survival.
Casey later thanked her husband for his support in a heartfelt video during his campaign for re-election, saying the governor “was there to pick me off the ground when I literally couldn’t stand.”
“He was there to fight for me when I didn’t have the strength to fight for myself,” the Florida first lady continued.