Florida Governor Ron DeSantis On Last Night’s Debate
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joined me this morning to discuss last night’s debate:
Audio:
Transcript:
HH: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis joins me. Good morning, Governor. Congratulations. Most of the talking heads say you “won” the debate last night. I hope you feel that way about it.
RD: Yeah, no, it was good. I’ll tell you, Hugh, it was a little bittersweet being in Tuscaloosa just given how Florida State, our undefeated Florida State team didn’t make the college football playoffs. So we’ve, but all the Crimson Tide fans here have been very nice about it, because I guess you know, they’re used to going pretty much every year.
HH: Yeah, that is, that is an unfortunate, that was just unfair, and that is going to end next year. Governor, I want to begin with a very straightforward question. I’m a graduate of Harvard College. You’re a graduate of Harvard Law School. I want the president of Harvard, President Gay, to resign based upon her testimony. Do you have a position on whether or not she ought to go?
RD: 100%, and I think what this has revealed is the rot and the sickness that’s been festering inside higher education for a long time. And you understand that, Hugh. A lot of your listeners do. But I think now the broader public is seeing this, and I think that they’re appalled by what was going on. And I would put in a plug for Florida and say how we’ve done it differently. If you look at how, say, Ben Sasse, who’s the president of the University of Florida has handled the post-October 7th matters, much different, moral clarity, things that you can be proud of. And we need universities that are going to serve a function of pursuing truth and preparing students to be citizens of the republic. They should not be these hotbeds of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism. But that’s what they’ve become, and I think back to my time. And I joke when I’m out on the campaign trail speaking with Republican primary voters. I say listen, I’m one of the few people that have gone through both Harvard and Yale and came out more conservative than when I went in. That’s not easy to do. And everyone acknowledged, they all kind of get it. But back in my day, you would not have had, I think, this level of vitriol like you have now. It has gotten much worse.