Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vowed on Friday a “reckoning” on hot-button issues such as border security, the handling of the COVID pandemic, and educational matters.
DeSantis outlined his policy vision at the 2024 Iowa GOP Lincoln Dinner. He argued for a strong response to the border crisis, punishing bureaucrats behind COVID lockdowns, and a strengthening of parents’ rights in regards to education. He promised to reject environmental policies such as the Green New Deal, because Americans “don’t want to help our enemies.” Americans should instead pursue energy independence, DeSantis argued. (RELATED: ‘Back To His Basement’: Ron DeSantis Mocks Joe Biden, Promises To Send Him On ‘Permanent Vacation’)
“I pledge to be the president to finally solve the issue of the southern border,” DeSantis said. “We’re sending the military to the border. Yes, we will build a border wall, and we will use deadly force against the Mexican drug cartels cause I’m sick of them poisoning our kids. I’m sick of them killing our citizens. And I’m sick of them trafficking people into this country.”
He also said there would be severe punishments for those behind the coronavirus lockdowns.
“We will usher in a reckoning for those like Dr. Fauci who perpetrated Covid-19 lockdown and mandate policies. Those policies were destructive for this country. They hurt people. They hurt our economy, and we still haven’t fully recovered from it,” DeSantis said, claiming that Fauci should be fired.
“We are going to ensure that parents in this country have the fundamental right to direct the upbringing and wellbeing of their kids. Schools and systems are important. But they do not supercede the rights of parents. We want education in this country, not indoctrination in this country. We got it done in Florida and we need to get it done nationally,” DeSantis said.
He then took shots at Vice President Kamala Harris over her repeated criticisms of Florida’s teaching standards on black history. Harris argues that the state’s standards, which mandate instruction on how the skills black people learned during slavery could be used for their own benefit, is a whitewashing of slavery history.
“And I’ve got Kamala Harris coming down to Florida, trying to create a phony narrative, because she understands Florida has stood up to the left’s agenda. We have beat the left’s agenda in the state of Florida. And so, she thinks she can come down and lie about what we’re doing in the state of Florida. I’m not budging an inch. We are gonna fight back against these people. And we are not letting them take over our schools any longer. We are gonna get this right as a nation,” DeSantis said.