Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said there is “a role” for the federal government in restricting abortions during a Fox News appearance Wednesday evening after he announced his candidacy for president.

“I think that there is a role for both the federal and the state, I think that at the end of the day fighting for life and protecting life really is a bottom-up movement, that we have been able to have great successes at the local level,” DeSantis told Fox News host Trey Gowdy. “I am concerned about a Democratic administration with a trifecta trying to nationalize abortion all the way up until birth. That would be a violation of what states like Florida have done to protect life.”

DeSantis officially announced his highly anticipated run for president on Twitter via a campaign video and a conversation on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk. The governor recently signed a six week abortion ban, and told Gowdy that successfully advancing the pro-life cause nationally was contingent on the political feasibility of certain policies.

“Some of this is a matter of strategy. Some of it as a matter of what could you do to be able to advance the ball forward,” DeSantis said.

Florida’s heartbeat bill, signed by DeSantis on April 13, restricts abortion after six weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest, human trafficking or when the life of the mother is in danger, and brought the state’s abortion restriction down from 15 weeks gestation. (RELATED: ‘The Right Thing To Do’: DeSantis Defends Six-Week Abortion Ban After Trump Calling It ‘Too Harsh’)

“The question is how are you going to be able to save more lives?” said DeSantis.

Former President Donald Trump criticized DeSantis’ signing of the bill, claiming many in the pro-life movement believe the abortion ban was “too harsh.” DeSantis seemingly fired back at the former president’s remarks, where he insisted it was “the right thing to do.”

“When we are acting to protect an unborn child that has a detectable heartbeat, that is humane, that is not harsh – that is the right thing to do,” DeSantis said at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Orlando, Florida, on Monday.

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