The faith of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has become more relevant now that he has announced his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. He discussed his vision for the nation during a speech at the National Religious Broadcasters convention this week.
“There’s a lot of pessimism out there,” he said. “But I think that what we’ve done in Florida can inspire people with a sense of hope. American decline is not inexorable. It is a choice. A great American comeback is attainable, and freedom sure is worth fighting for.”
DeSantis promoted his conservative record – signing budgets that lowered taxes, signing a pro-life heartbeat bill, signing a law banning dangerous trans surgery on minors and the appointment of conservative justices to the Florida Supreme Court among them. He called Florida the “most pro-Israel state in the United States.”
“We understand it is the cradle of our Judeo-Christian tradition and those are the values that undergird our constitution and our republic,” he said. “We also understand that being pro-life means being pro-life once the baby is born,. And so we have provided unprecedented support in the state of Florida for mothers. We’ve expanded medical coverage for low-income mothers.”
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DeSantis touted a bill he signed that provides millions of dollars in state funding to promote responsible fatherhood. He quoted former NFL coach Tony Dungy as saying the common thread of most men in prison is that they grew up without a dad in the home.
On education, DeSantis said Florida is making sure that “our school system is providing kids with an education, not an indoctrination.” He also discussed the school voucher bill he signed this year, saying it is “empowering parents with the ability to choose the school of their choice.”
“We enacted the largest expansion of school choice in American history, universal education savings accounts,” DeSantis said. “If a parent wants to have their child get a religious education, they now have the scholarship money to be able to do that if they can’t afford it.”
DeSantis closed by encouraging those in attendance to “put on the full armor of God.”
“We have a responsibility to preserve the freedom that has been endowed upon us by our creator,” he said. “We must restore a sense of sanity to our society, we must restore normalcy to our communities. And we must restore integrity to our institutions.
“Our founders understood that freedom is fragile. You could have the best Declaration of Independence in the world, you can have the best Constitution in the world, but they do not run on autopilot. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished in Florida, but I can tell you this: I have only begun to fight.”
–Alan Goforth | Metro Voice
