Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday defended his push to cut the radical pro-Palestinian student group financially — as well as his decision to remain in the 2024 Republican presidential race despite trailing Donald Trump in the polls.
DeSantis was pressed by host Kristen Welker on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about whether the 77-year-old former president’s mountain of “legal troubles” was the reason the Florida poll chose to stay in the race.
“No. I think if Alvin Bragg hadn’t politicized this in April, I think maybe the primary would have looked different,” DeSantis responded, referring to the Manhattan district attorney, who brought the first criminal case against Trump earlier this year.
“I think that gives the former president more support. I think people feel like he’s being treated unfairly, which he is in that situation,” DeSantis said of his main rival.
The governor was also asked to respond to criticism over his announcement last week that the Florida State University System would cut funding to the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
Some, including 2024’s rival and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, slammed the move as an attack on freedom of speech.
“This is not a void culture,” DeSantis retorted on “Meet the Press,” saying that SJP has hitched its wagons to terrorist groups like Hamas, which launched the deadly Oct. 7 surprise attack on Israel.
Students gather at the University of Florida’s Turlington Hall to pray after a lesson organized by Students for Justice in Palestine.ZUMAPRESS.com Ron DeSantis argues that radical pro-Palestinian student groups have supported groups behind terrorist activities in Israel.AP
“These groups, themselves, said after the Hamas attack, that they are not just standing in solidarity – that they are part of this Hamas movement,” he continued.
“So you have the right to go out and demonstrate, but you cannot give material support to terrorism.”
“Are we just going to kill ourselves as a nation and let groups metastasize that openly favor brutal terrorist organizations?” DeSantis added. “I don’t think that’s a recipe for a successful country.”
The 2024 Republican hopeful has sought to cast himself as a champion of Israel and crowed about Florida’s recent move to assist a private company in relocating people from the war-torn country.
Last week, Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.), the only Jewish Republican in the state legislature, switched his support from DeSantis to Trump, arguing in part that the governor has not been as vocal in opposing neo-Nazi harassment in Florida.
“Well, he’s just trying to get 15 minutes of fame. I mean, this guy was singing my praises a few months ago. He had different reasons why he did that. We have acted very, very quickly and decisively,” DeSantis said on Sunday.
While the 45-year-old Florida governor opined about the political fallout from Trump’s acquittal of 91 felony charges, he also said that “Ultimately, it’s not about the past.”
“It’s not about all these other issues,” he told Welker. “It’s ultimately about how you come in and reverse the decline of the country.”
Ron DeSantis is running for second in the 2024 GOP primary.NBC
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg slapped Trump with 34 counts over alleged hush money payments to keep porn star Stormy Daniels and others quiet during the 2016 cycle.
Trump also faces two federal cases: 40 counts of allegedly hiding classified documents and four counts of subversion of the 2020 election, as well as 13 counts of allegedly tampering with the 2020 election in Georgia.
He has denied wrongdoing across the board.
Donald Trump is the distant 2024 GOP presidential candidate.Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images
At one point during the wide-ranging interview, Welker probed DeSantis about Florida’s gun laws in the wake of the mass shooting in Maine that left 18 people dead and 13 injured by a US Army reservist who police said had a history of mental health. issue.
“I’m going to be more aggressive against some of the fringe people who are clearly showing signs that they are a serious danger to society,” DeSantis said.
But the governor rejected a push for so-called red flag laws, under which authorities could temporarily confiscate an individual’s firearms if witnesses saw them engaging in some type of erratic behavior.
Florida’s governor rejected calls for gun control, but indicated he would strengthen mental health programs.Getty Images
“I don’t believe in this idea that the government can just take someone’s property and then go through due process later,” DeSantis said.
Welker is set to moderate the third 2024 GOP debate in DeSantis’ home state on Nov. 8 with NBC counterpart Lester Holt and conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
Trump appears poised to once again skip the debate and head to a rally he plans in Hialeah, Florida, just a 30-minute drive from the verbal sparring.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
