Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) said during an interview this week that Miami-Dade County, Florida’s largest county and a Democrat stronghold, is turning red because of conservatism.
DeSantis made the remarks during an interview Monday night with Fox News host Tucker Carlson when asked what has led to the shift in the county.
DeSantis responded that his administration’s policies during the pandemic saved people’s jobs, their businesses, and kept their children in school.
“The Democratic Party opposed me on every single one of those policies and they wanted basically indefinite lockdowns and school closures, and that is not good for blue-collar people,” DeSantis said. “We also have done very strong on crime. When you had the (George) Floyd riots, I immediately called out the National Guard, we were not going to let that happen in Florida, we are a law and order state. And they know I’m a law and order governor, I think that’s important.”
“And then I also think we reflect their values,” he continued. “As parents raising kids, we fought Disney to make sure that kids wouldn’t be sexualized in elementary school by keeping things like gender ideology out of the classroom. But yet it’s the left that wants to put all that in there. So I think you just see Latinos down here, but really blue collar people generally, saying we’re representing them, we are standing up for them, their jobs, their education, their safety and their families.”
“So I once saw Frank Luntz, who’s a famous Republican pollster, tell Republican members of Congress if they wanted to win Hispanic votes, they had to move left,” Carlson responded. “You’re saying you’ve won those votes by moving right.”
“Absolutely, and including on immigration,” DeSantis responded. “My first year, we banned sanctuary cities, and news media thought that that would be not approved down here. And yet, Hispanic voters in Florida had the highest approval rating for our policy to ban sanctuary cities. We did the transport to Martha’s Vineyard, and people thought that this was going to be so bad and yet Hispanic voters backed me on doing that because they understand the border is out of control. So I think it’s on all of these issues. But clearly, the Republican establishment view that you need open borders and amnesty to appeal to Hispanic voters in the United States is dead wrong. It was wrong then. And it’s clearly been proven to be wrong now.”
WATCH:
TRANSCRIPT:
TUCKER CARLSON: There’s probably no county in America more symbolically important to the Democratic Party than Miami Dade, in Florida, South Florida. New polling there indicates that Ron DeSantis, who’s running for re-election as governor of the state of Florida may win Miami Dade, which is pretty unbelievable. So why? How did Ron DeSantis, who served for one term was governor of Florida, apparently shift Miami Dade Republican? What is going on here, exactly? Not all disinformation we suspect. Ron DeSantis joins us tonight. Governor, thanks so much.
RON DESANTIS: Hey, how are you?
CARLSON: Great! So, you know, these are just polls, but it does seem possible that you will win Miami Dade, which wouldn’t have seemed possible two years ago. So what exactly is going on here? To what do you attribute, there’s clearly been a shift, why?
DESANTIS: I think there’s a number of factors. I mean, one, I was the governor that was saving their jobs, their businesses, and keeping their kids in school during COVID. The Democratic Party opposed me on every single one of those policies and they wanted basically indefinite lockdowns and school closures, and that is not good for blue collar people. We also have done very strong on crime. When you had the Floyd riots, I immediately called out the National Guard, we were not going to let that happen in Florida, we are a law and order state. And they know I’m a law and order governor, I think that’s important. And then I also think we reflect their values, as parents raising kids, we fought Disney to make sure that kids wouldn’t be sexualized in elementary school by keeping things like gender ideology out of the classroom. But yet it’s the left that wants to put all that in there. So I think you just see Latinos down here, but really blue collar people generally, saying we’re representing them, we are standing up for them, their jobs, their education, their safety and their families.
CARLSON: So I once saw Frank Luntz, who’s a famous Republican pollster, tell Republican members of Congress if they wanted to win Hispanic votes, they had to move left. You’re saying you’ve won those votes by moving right.
DESANTIS: Absolutely, and including on immigration. My first year, we banned sanctuary cities, and news media thought that that would be not approved down here. And yet, Hispanic voters in Florida had the highest approval rating for our policy to ban sanctuary cities. We did the transport to Martha’s Vineyard, and people thought that this was going to be so bad and yet Hispanic voters backed me on doing that because they understand the border is out of control. So I think it’s on all of these issues. But clearly, the Republican establishment view that you need open borders and amnesty to appeal to Hispanic voters in the United States is dead wrong. It was wrong then. And it’s clearly been proven to be wrong now.
CARLSON: They’ve been saying it for 30 years. This is just an amazing experiment in democracy, actually. Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida on the eve of the election. Thank you so much.
DESANTIS: Thank you.
(Disclosure: The Daily Wire has announced plans for kids entertainment content.)
Related: ‘God Made A Fighter’: Dramatic DeSantis Ad Goes Viral, Triggers Liberal Meltdown
