Fox News hosted town hall with DeSantis concludes on the topic of abortion
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed viewers and a live audience on Tuesday night in an exclusive town hall event hosted by Fox News' Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier
Coverage for this event has ended.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said that he will bring "major accountability" to "weaponized" government organizations if elected president.
DeSantis made the pledge during his Iowa Fox News town hall event on Tuesday, saying agencies like the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internal Revenue Service, and Department of Justice are "weaponized."
"I first saw it when I first ran for Congress," DeSantis said. "I had groups in my district where the IRS was targeting those conservative groups back there in 2012."
"And it's like a small nonprofit that just talking about the Constitution under Obama, they did it," DeSantis said. "No one was held accountable for doing that."
"So you're going to keep getting these outcomes until you have a president that comes in and drops the hammer," DeSantis also said.
The Florida governor said that Americans will "see major accountability because if we want to change the way this government operates, you've got to hold the people accountable who are responsible for the madness."
"And I will do that," he added.
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Florida Gov. and GOP presidential candidate DeSantis participated in an exclusive town hall event hosted by Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum Tuesday night. The event was second in a lineup of highly anticipated town hall events the week ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
DeSantis was addressed by both the co-moderators and audience members. Iowa voters pressed DeSantis on issues including abortion, education, border security, Donald Trump, Joe Biden and more.
In the final minutes of his primetime hour, DeSantis took aim at Haley for her comments on abortion from Monday night's town hall saying she has "chastised pro-lifers" by saying "you shouldn't be talking about putting women in prison."
"Nobody's talking about that. I've not met a single pro-lifer that has ever talked about that," DeSantis said.
Baier and MacCallum will host GOP frontrunner Donald Trump for a final evening of town halls in Iowa on Wednesday night. The event will run for one hour on Fox News Channel beginning at 9 p.m. ET.
With six days to go until Iowa's caucuses kick off the Republican presidential nominating calendar, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis no longer predicts victory and instead vows that "we're going to do well here."
DeSantis, at a Fox News town hall on Tuesday in Iowa's capital and largest city, emphasized that the battle for the GOP nomination "is a long process" and pledged that he's "in it for the long haul."
DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected to a second term as Florida governor 14 months ago, was once the clear alternative to former President Trump in the Republican White House race. He was solidly in second place behind former Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner as he makes his third straight presidential bid.
But after a series of campaign setbacks over the summer and autumn, DeSantis saw his support in the polls erode.
Rival Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor who served as ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration, in recent weeks has caught up with DeSantis for second place in the polls in Iowa and in national surveys.
Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis' rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination took aim at the populist presidential candidate after his Tuesday town hall event.
DeSantis joined Fox News for a town hall event in the Hawkeye State ahead of the famous Iowa Caucus, where the governor spoke on inflation and government accountability and took questions from the audience.
Following DeSantis' town hall discussion with Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum, though, the Florida governor's GOP rivals fired off their thoughts on his performance.
Former President Trump's campaign went off during the town hall event, attacking DeSantis' record on the COVID-19 pandemic and claiming in one post that the Florida governor "issued some of the most draconian Covid restrictions of anywhere in the United States."
In another post, the Trump campaign wrote, "Ron DeSanctimonious PRAISES Trump's COVID Task Force, says Fauci and Birx were doing a good job," with a clip of DeSantis from during the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Ron DeSantis and his allies have set him up for devastating failure," the Trump campaign tweeted. "Everything he does is one giant astroturf that will be exposed in just a few short days."
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Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's campaign chirped at DeSantis during his town hall, too, slamming the governor over his answers to various questions, from inflation to his polling numbers against President Biden.
"RON DESANTIS on inflation: ‘This was created by Washington,’" Haley's campaign tweeted on Tuesday. "Uh, Ron, you were in Washington and you voted to increase the debt limit."
GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis declared that "we can never send American troops over to fight in Ukraine."
DeSantis made the declaration during his Tuesday Fox News town hall in Iowa where he took shots at fellow Republican presidential candidate when asked to respond to her Monday remarks on the Ukraine war.
The Florida governor blasted Haley for her recent comment suggesting New Hampshire voters "correct" the electoral process started by Iowa voters as well as the former South Carolina governor's stance on Ukraine.
"We have a lot of challenges in national security. One is our own southern border," DeSantis said "And you have people like Nikki Haley that care more about the Ukraine border than she does about our own border here in the United States."
DeSantis noted that China is America's "number one threat" and cited his military service while calling for "more naval power in the Indo-Pacific to be able to deter China's ambitions."
The Florida governor said that, if he could, he would "snap" his fingers and "give all of that territory back to Ukraine" and that Russia "had no right" to invade the country. He also said that America's European allies are "not pulling their fair share" in supporting Ukraine.
"I think we need to work with the Europeans for them to do more. I am willing to work with them because we have military relationships to help to do that, but we can't just have a blank check and we can never send American troops over to fight in Ukraine."
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis scolded a group of environmentalist protesters holding banners after they attempted to interrupt his Fox News town hall in Iowa on Tuesday night.
"No oil money, no oil money," several protesters began shouting as they rushed toward the stage interrupting the event.
"You live and you learn with these people, right?" DeSantis responded with a laugh.
"You guys didn't get that one right," DeSantis quipped at the protesters, to applause from the audience.
The protesters were quickly removed from the room by security drawing an applause from the crowd.
"Ron DeSantis roasts leftist disruptors," a DeSantis campaign account posted on X with a video of the incident.
Ron DeSantis vowed that under his administration, the U.S. military would follow rules of engagement on the southern border and would shoot cartel members attempting to breach sovereign U.S. territory.
"Rules of engagement. Let her rip! That's absolutely appropriate to be able to do to defend your country," DeSantis said after reiterating his promise to declare a national emergency over the border and use the military to stop the "invasion."
"Another thing I’m going to do that other presidents haven't been willing to do: We're going to treat the Mexican drug cartels like terrorist organizations," he said.
DeSantis said that cartels had killed "way more" people in the U.S. than any terrorist group combined when accounting for fentanyl deaths, and vowed he would be the president to solve the problem "once and for all."
He added that he would send troops into Mexico to kill cartel members "among other assets."
Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
"I can tell you I would love to run against Biden," DeSantis said Tuesday night. "I'm not going to let him hang out in his basement. We would run him ragged around this country. I would love to be able to be in a debate with Biden and be able to hold him accountable for his policies."
DeSantis said on Friday that he's looking at ways to keep President Biden off the ballot due to the "invasion of 8 million" at the southern border — though he said he also believes efforts to bar former President Trump from the ballot are wrong.
"I do think the US Supreme Court is going to have to take the case," DeSantis told reporters following a campaign event in Iowa. "I do think they're going to have to rein this in, because I just think if you look at it, it just becomes too different."
But DeSantis said in the meantime that Florida is looking at whether it could block Biden from the ballot for policies he says have led to an "invasion" of immigrants into the U.S. over the southern border.
"You could make a case — we're actually I'm actually looking at this in Florida now. Could we make a credible case that Biden, because of the invasion of eight million?" DeSantis said.
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Ron DeSantis suggested that it's a real possibility President Biden will be replaced by another Democrat in the 2024 general election, but that he hopes to run against him because he would "run him ragged" across the country.
"This guy is a few fries short of a happy meal. That's just the reality," DeSantis said when asked if he foresaw Biden being replaced.
"Most Americans see that so, what are the Democrats going to do going forward? I can tell you I would love to run against Biden. I’m not going to let him hang out in his basement. We would run him ragged across the country. I would love to be in a debate with Biden and hold him accountable for his policies," he added.
The presidential hopeful has also taken a firm in his stance on the Biden family and investigations into any wrongdoings. During a NBC News interview earlier this month, DeSantis was baffled when asked if he'd pardon Biden's son, Hunter Biden, of charges including three felonies and six misdemeanor counts if elected president.
"Why," he said. "No!"
He also rejected the possibility of asking GOP lawmakers to halt investigations into Biden himself.
Recently, DeSantis shut down rumors that he would drop out of the race for POTUS if he loses the Iowa caucuses.
"Totally made up," he said to Fox News’ Bill Melugin at a town hall event in Grimes, Iowa.
Fox News' Gabriele Regalbuto contributed to this report.
"You know, I'm not exactly sure, because I think it's kind of a novel issue," DeSantis said when asked whether Trump should be immune from prosecution -- as the former president's attorneys argued in court earlier Tuesday.
"I think the D.C. Circuit will rule against him. I mean, it's a liberal circuit, and I think they're going to hotwire this thing that. But I think it raises the issue for Republicans is what do we want the 2024 election to be about? Because, you know, if Donald Trump is the nominee, the election is going to be about legal issues, criminal trials, January six. It'll be a referendum on him. It'll be a referendum on a lot of these issues that are not going to put us in a position to hold Biden accountable."
In early December, DeSantis asked whether Trump was seeking a second term in the White House to fulfill his personal retribution against his perceived enemies or to help improve the future of everyday Americans.
When asked on NBC’s "Meet the Press" about Trump campaigning on promises to get back at his enemies, DeSantis challenged the former president with a single question: "Why are you running?"
"If he's running for personal retribution, that is not going to lead to what we need as a country," the governor said. "You got to be running for the American people and their issues, not about your own personal issues. And that is a distinction between us. I am focused on the folks. I am focused on what they want to see done for this country in a positive direction. I’m the vessel, but ultimately, it's not about me."
In mid November, DeSantis said Trump would be a risky 2024 GOP nominee, saying he has a "small" chance of beating President Biden, and would have a tough time attracting the necessary talent to "get the job done" should he win.
Fox News' Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
Fox News Digital
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis defended the strength of his campaign in Iowa despite former President Trump large lead in the polls by pointing to the enthusiasm of his supporters and his organized ground game.
"First of all, just to boil down this choice on caucus night, Donald Trump's running for his issues, Nikki Haley's running for her donors issues. I'm running for your issues, your family's issues and to turn this country around and that's my sole focus," DeSantis said when asked if his messaging is "getting through" in Iowa.
DeSantis continued, "If the media doesn't want me, if they're trying to do everything they can to stop me, well, I must be doing something right and I must be a good candidate for you. So I wear that as a badge of honor. I think what you're seeing us do in Iowa is do it the old fashioned way. You're lining up people who are committing to caucus for you. We have massive numbers of people. I think we have more commits than anyone's ever had in an Iowa caucus. We have all the counties organize. People that have been involved in this process say it's the best yet. That's not something that necessarily is a poll or not, because a poll is based on who's going to turn out and who's not. Our people are turning out."
Ron DeSantis took a jab at Republican rival Nikki Haley early in tonight's town hall, reiterating that her recent claim New Hampshire voters will 'correct' the Iowa caucus results were "deeply offensive."
"It's tough for me to take something from somebody that goes to another state and then says Iowa's votes not to be corrected. You know, I found that to be deeply offensive,: DeSantis said when asked to respond to a clip of Haley accusing him of wanting to be an "isolationist."
DeSantis added that he'd traveled to all of Iowa's 99 counties, and met "patriotic" voters who "represent the best of America."
Haley made the comments while campaigning in Milford, New Hampshire, last week, telling a large crowd listening to her that "we have an opportunity to get this right. And I know we’ll get it right, and I trust you. I trust every single one of you. You know how to do this. You know Iowa starts it. You know that you correct it."
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser contributed to this update.
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"Well, look, Israel is a rock solid ally of ours," he said. "They're the strongest ally we have in the Middle East. As president, I will stand with Israel in word and indeed in public and in private. And what Joe Biden is doing, he's got a schizophrenic policy because he first said he was for Israel. Then he's got his far left, who doesn't like Israel. So he's kind of bouncing back and forth."
In mid October, DeSantis touted an evacuation operation his administration supported that led to nearly 300 American citizens evacuated from Tel Aviv, Israel, and landed in Tampa International Airport on October 16, 2023.
DeSantis told Fox News at the time that he saw a lack of actionable leadership on the part of the Biden administration and decided to see what Tallahassee could do to execute what he claimed Washington could not.
"It was sad because the State Department and the embassy over in Israel were not helpful to these people. If you think about it, illegal aliens come across our southern border and the federal government will fly them all over the country for free," he said, noting how illegal immigrants also get taxpayer-funded hotel stays and other perks the average citizen could never attain.
Office of Gov. Ron DeSantis
In one of the odder attack adds, so far, of the 2024 campaign cycle, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was accused of eating pudding with his fingers.
An attack ad launched by Make America Great Again PAC in April 2023 shows a man in a suit eating pudding with his fingers while text on the screen chides Ron DeSantis for putting his "dirty fingers" where they don’t belong.
"I don’t remember ever doing that," DeSantis said in an interview on Fox Nation.
"Maybe when I was a kid, but it’s interesting there’s a lot of people who when they go at you, sometimes they have really good ammunition like, ‘You’re a crook, you did this, you did that,’" he added. "For me, they’re talking about pudding, and I’m like, ‘Is that really the best you’ve got? OK, bring it on!’"
The rumor originates from a story reported by the Daily Beast where an anonymous former staffer claimed that DeSantis "enjoyed a chocolate pudding dessert—by eating it with three of his fingers," on a private flight from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C.
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Public outcries, lawsuits, and investigations continue to fuel the fiery feud between Gov. Ron DeSantis and Disney that erupted over the past year.
Disney initially criticized DeSantis' Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act, a bill that prohibits discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom, saying in 2022 it "should never have been signed into law."
DeSantis hit back at "The Most Magical Place on Earth," grouping their public outcry of the bill as part of the "woke" movement."
"You have companies, like at Disney, that are going to say and criticize parents' rights, they’re going to criticize the fact that we don’t want transgenderism in kindergarten in first grade classrooms," DeSantis continued. "In Florida, our policies have got to be based on the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musing of woke corporations."
To add more fuel to the fire, the Walt Disney Company filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in May 2023 after the governor signed a bill that would revoke the corporation’s development agreements over its resorts in the state.
"Sometimes you just need an executive to come in and tell them to pound sand," DeSantis said of the lawsuit in an interview with The American Conservative.
In one of the most recent developments, a group established by DeSantis, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight Board, recently accused Disney of taking payoffs and not following through on promises based on examination findings.
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Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., frequently touts his economic record in Florida as a reference to how the economy would look under his presidency.
"In Florida, we run budget surpluses, we have the second lowest per capita debt ratio in the entire country," DeSantis says. "We’ve paid down debt, I’ve vetoed billions and billions of dollars of excessive spending. As president, you’ve got to be willing to lean in and use the veto pen to be able to battle against this excessive spending."
The Florida Governor placed blame on both Democrats and Republicans for high inflation, arguing that President Joe Biden and GOP frontrunner former President Donald Trump were dually responsible for surging prices over the past few years.
"Both parties have done it," DeSantis said in a December campaign ad. "Both parties have been involved. And actually, Republicans are very tough when they're out of power. But when they get in power, you know, they basically go on a spending binge too. And I think you've seen it over the last five or six years."
DeSanits rolled out a "Declaration of Economic Independence" in the summer of 2023, an economic blueprint for America if he is elected in 2024.
"We will declare our economic independence from the failed elites that have orchestrated American decline, from the reckless federal spending that has inflated prices and plunged this nation to the brink of bankruptcy. We will declare our economic independence from the Chinese Communist Party," the candidate said during a speech in New Hampshire. "We will seek independence from a class of progressive corporations looking out for every interest under the sun except the interests of the American people."
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Former Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy have clashed in recent days after an unprecedented set of judicial rulings in Colorado and Maine set the two against each other.
The Colorado Supreme Court, and a judge in Maine, have determined that under the Insurrection Clause, President Trump is not eligible to appear on their state ballots.
"If they’re going to behave in that unconstitutional way, the Republican candidates can actually stop this form of election interference," Ramaswamy said in an interview with News Nation Prime,"So I said I would remove my name from those ballots, and I called on the other Republicans in the race to do the same thing,".
"Just absurd. I mean, I have a responsibility to accumulate delegates," DeSantis said in an interview Tuesday. "I’m not gonna unilaterally cede any, I’m gonna win as many as I can, and I’ve been very clear about both of those decisions and those states."
"So, we can play this game all along, I think it’s not going to end up well for our country," DeSantis continued. "But I do know this, that if any of the other ones of us had gotten kicked off the ballot, Trump would be spiking the football. Let’s just be clear, that that is just the fact of the matter.
In November, Ramaswamy slammed DeSantis' order to shut down pro-Palestinian campus groups as "utter hypocrisy."
Ramaswamy told Fox News Digital, "Free speech doesn’t just protect the ideas we love. It protects the ideas we hate."
Fox News' Gabriele Regalbuto contributed to this report.
FABRICE COFFRINI/AFP via Getty Images
In the first primary debate, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shared how he plans to combat the increasing crime rates across the country.
DeSantis said he would remove Soros-funded, "radical left-wing district attorneys" from their posts, as he has already done in Florida.
"These hollowed out cities, this is a symptom of America's decline," he said. "And one of the biggest reasons is, you have George Soros funding these radical left-wing district attorneys that get into office and they say they're not gonna prosecute crimes they disagree with."
"The inmates start running the asylum," he went on. "There's one guy in this entire country that's ever done anything about that; me."
DeSantis added, "When we had two of these district attorneys in Florida elected with Soros funding who said they wouldn't do their job, I removed them from their job. They are gone."
"And as president, as president, we are gonna go after all of these people because they are hurting the quality of life and they are victimizing innocent people in every corner of this country and it will stop when I get into office," he concluded.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis responded to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley's suggestion that she would "maybe" consider teaming up with him, pointing to possibly tapping him as her running mate if she emerges victorious among the star-studded line of Republican candidates vying for the nomination.
"I am not going to accept that under any circumstances," DeSantis told Fox News' Neil Cavuto on Saturday.
"I'm running for president because I think we need somebody that can win and get the job done. I would much rather do my final two years as governor than be vice president. I don't think it's a position that offers much. I want to make an impact," he continued.
In November, DeSantis rubbed salt on the wound by trolling his opponent, Haley, over her heavily scrutinized vow to require all social media users be verified.
DeSantis' campaign announced new merchandise mocking Haley's comments, including a t-shirt with the phrase, "Always Watching," and a quote from Haley saying that "every person on social media should be verified by their name."
Another item is a dystopian-themed "Official Internet Identification Card" fashioned after something that might be required by a science-fiction authoritarian regime.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie and Taylor Penley contributed to this report.
Sergio Flores for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Gov. Ron DeSantis appeared to be a favored candidate for GOP nomination following the 2022 midterms, but a heated Republican primary race resulted in a significant drop in the polls.
A USA Today/Suffolk University survey in December 2022 suggested DeSantis led former President Donald Trump 56%-33% among Republican voters when asked whom they prefer as the 2024 nominee.
A Wall Street Journal poll dropped just one day later also found that in a hypothetical DeSantis-Trump face-off, the Florida governor beat the former president 52%-38%.
While DeSantis appeared to be favored among the GOP for several months after the midterms, the governor soon saw his poll numbers plummet, and he has been unsuccessful in bringing them back to their high water marks.
A Suffolk University survey in the fall of 2023 suggested Trump is the front-runner of the race, with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley now leading DeSantis by 9 percentage points, 19% to 10%.
Most recent polling by Quinnipiac University in December shows former President Trump holds firm his commanding lead in the primary race with support of 67% of Republican and GOP-leaning voters, while DeSantis tied with former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley for second place with only 11% support.
The Florida governor has recently said that presidential polling this far out from the election is “useless.”
DeSantis for President
Casey DeSantis is presently the first lady of Florida and wife of potential GOP 2024 presidential hopeful Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.DeSantis, whose full maiden name is Jill Casey Black, has campaigned alongside her husband and has escorted him to many political events in the past and present. The couple married in September 2010 at Disney World and have two daughters, Madison and Mamie, and a son, Mason.
She is an Ohio native who graduated from the College of Charleston with a Bachelor of Science degree in economics as well as a minor in French. Before becoming Florida's first lady after her husband's election in 2018, DeSantis enjoyed a long career as a television host, reporter and anchor. She worked at a local news station in Jacksonville, Florida, where the family lived for nearly a decade.
DeSantis was also a three-time equestrian national champion and a runner-up NCAA Division One champion. Since becoming the first lady of Florida, DeSantis has expanded her work through Hope for Healing Florida, which provides financial assistance and resources to struggling families and individuals across the state.
In October 2021, DeSantis was diagnosed with breast cancer, according to an exclusive report released by Fox News Digital at the time. She later opened up about her successful battle with the disease during a Fox News town hall in October 2022. Previously, she had been featured in campaign advertisements for her husband, discussing how he took care of the family during that period.
During an interview with Fox News' Harris Faulkner, DeSantis recalled her battle with cancer.
"The day that I ultimately found out it was Ron who was the one that told me because I couldn't listen to the doctors, I didn't want to hear any of the opining," Casey said. "I didn't know if I was going to see my kids graduate from kindergarten, let alone going off into high school or watching them walk down the aisle, so I had him every step of the way there as a shoulder to cry on."
Presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis contrasts how the Sunshine State handled the coronavirus pandemic to the rest of the country.
"Florida, since COVID, has outperformed virtually any state in the country when you look at all these significant metrics. I mean, we're booming, we've got people moving in here, wealth is coming in here," DeSanits said during a podcast appearance. "And so, I think when people look back, you know, that 2020 year was not a good year for the country as a whole. It was a situation where Florida started to stand alone. So I think that that's an important contrast."
DeSantis has charged that former President Donald Trump "destroyed millions of people's lives" by turning the country over to Dr. Anthony Fauci.
In recent months, the governor held a roundtable discussion where he and Florida's surgeon general urged individuals under the age of 65 not to get the updated COVID-19 vaccines.
"Once again, Florida is the first state in the nation to stand up and provide guidance based on truth, not Washington edicts," DeSantis reiterated that Florida stood up during the pandemic.
DeSantis for President
The 2024 Iowa Caucuses are set for January 15, and the first votes for a potential president will be cast. Iowa has long enjoyed the role of being first among kingmakers. Its place in the primary contest calendar ensures its interests, namely agricultural, are communicated to presidential contenders.
Iowa can be a proving ground for candidates, often spending large sums of donated funds, time, effort and sweat on old-fashioned campaigning. Before one can schedule stadium-filling rallies leading up to the summer conventions, presidential hopefuls are sitting down to breakfast in diners and shaking hands at county fairs.
"I think the candidates who, you know, spend all the money on TV but aren't actually down on the ground visiting folks, they tend to under-perform and the candidates that have that organization tend to over-perform," says Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the candidates for the GOP's nomination. DeSantis spoke with the FOX News Rundown podcast while between campaign events in Des Moines.
Fox News' Eben Brown contributed to this report.
Ron DeSantis Facebook
Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has a military background marked by service in the United States Navy. He graduated from Harvard University in 2001, earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 2005, and then chose to join the military before entering into his political career. In 2004, DeSantis was commissioned as a Judge Advocate General (JAG) officer in the U.S. Navy.
In August, DeSantis' campaign leaned into his military background with a digital ad highlighting his time as a Navy officer.
"When our country was under attack, Ron DeSantis fought back," a narrator says in the video.
"Ron DeSantis embodies service over self," the narrator continues. "And the father of three young children – he understands the importance of the fights ahead and why we must never back down. Ron DeSantis – the fighter we need as President."
During his military service, DeSantis was deployed to Iraq as an advisor to the U.S. Navy SEALs. He earned the Bronze Star Medal (meritorious service), the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (gold star in lieu of second award), the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Navy and Marine Corps Reserve Medal, among other distinctions.
His active duty service lasted from 2004 to 2010, and he subsequently served in the Navy Reserve. DeSantis' military background , particularly his Iraq deployment and role as a JAG officer, has often been highlighted as a testament to his dedication to service and country.
GOP Congressman Chip Roy, a surrogate for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on the 2024 presidential campaign trail, spoke to Fox News Digital about a week out from the Iowa caucus and said DeSantis is surging at the right time and is on track to outperform expectations next week.
"There's a massive surge going on for governor DeSantis," Roy explained. "It really is interesting and people are engaging in and focusing, not just listening to the noise and not just listening to the polls."
Former President Trump holds a roughly 30-point lead on DeSantis in Iowa, according to the Real Clear Politics average of polls, but Roy told Fox News Digital the enthusiasm he has seen on the ground suggests the caucus will be closer than people think and that polls aren’t the same thing as showing up next Monday to actually caucus.
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Tensions between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley have escalated as both battle to be the primary alternative to former President Trump.
In an exclusive interview with NBC news on Thursday, DeSantis called Nikki Haley a "phony" and asserted that she "just didn’t get Iowa."
"I'm just thinking to myself, she's phony, you know, she doesn't have a core set of convictions," DeSantis said. "She's coming in here, she's trying to be relatable but just doesn't get Iowa. I think that's becoming more and more apparent."
"I'm the only one that has a chance to beat Trump and win the general election," he continued. "Nikki Haley can't get conservative voters. She's playing for voters who are not even core Republicans."
On Saturday, DeSantis told Fox News' Neil Cavuto of Haley's suggestion that she would consider teaming up with him, "I am not going to accept that under any circumstances."
He added, "I'm running for president because I think we need somebody that can win and get the job done. I would much rather do my final two years as governor than be vice president. I don't think it's a position that offers much. I want to make an impact."
The Iowa caucus is set to be held on Monday, January 15
Fox News' Gabriele Regalbuto contributed to this report.
Fox News
Florida Gov. and GOP presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis will sit with Fox News' hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum for an exclusive town hall event on Tuesday evening. The town hall will run for one hour, beginning at 6 p.m. ET.
The second of three highly anticipated town halls hosted by Fox News will feature the Jacksonville, Florida native and comes hot on the heels of a town hall with former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley and the evening ahead of an exclusive with Donald Trump, GOP frontrunner.
Co-moderators Baier and MacCallum hosted the first Republican presidential primary debate in late August where DeSantis stood centerstage.
Viewers can expect a live audience at this event in Iowa less than one week from the Iowa caucuses. DeSantis told Fox News’ Bill Melugin that rumors of his drop out if Iowa was lost were "categorically false" and a "lie."
Audiences can tune into the live event on Fox News Channel and live stream on FOX Nation, FOX News Media's streaming platform, as well as FOXNews.com and FOXBusiness.com.
Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis touched on a variety of issues during a recent CNN town hall in Iowa, criticizing former President Trump for failing to follow through on 2016 promises and hitting President Biden's record.
DeSantis took aim at Trump and told the crowd that Republicans "crashed and burned" in 2022.
"Donald Trump's handpicked candidates lost because the Democrats have a playbook that they can run," DeSantis said. "You don't want it to be a referendum on Trump and the past. You want it to be a referendum on Biden's failures, on our positive vision for this country. I offer that."
DeSantis criticized Trump for running on the same platform he ran on in 2016, without accomplishing his goals as president.
"When I tell you I'm going to do something, you can take it to the bank," DeSantis said. "I'm going to do it."
DeSantis spoke about the illegal immigration crisis and specifically how fentanyl is pouring across the border and killing Americans.
"How many fentanyl deaths are enough, are we just supposed to sit here and let this happen?" DeSantis said. "I think a president not only has a right, I think you have a responsibility to fight back against these people."
Fox News' Andrew Mark Miller contributed to this report.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivered his annual State of the State address on Tuesday just hours before his Fox News town hall in Iowa and touched on a variety of issues including criticism of President Joe Biden.
“In this time for choosing, the state of Florida has chosen well,” DeSantis said.”We have chosen facts over fear. We have chosen education over indoctrination. We have chosen law and order over rioting and disorder. We have chosen fiscal responsibility over debt and profligacy. Our choices have produced results that are second to none in this country.”
“We have earned rankings of number one for education, number one for education, freedom, number one for parental involvement in education,” DeSantis said. “Number one for talent development. Number One for public higher education. Number one for domestic in-migration. For the third consecutive year. Number one in new business formations. Number one in GDP growth amongst large states. And better than almost all countries throughout the world. We are number one for entrepreneurship, and we have set the standard for limited government. Florida has the fewest state employees per capita and the lowest state government costs per capita in the entire United States. Our crime rate is at a 50 year low and we have the lowest unemployment rate of all large states.”
"The state of our state is strong," DeSantis said. "Let's keep doing what works. Let's continue to make Florida the envy of the nation."
During the speech, DeSantis hit the Biden administration on illegal immigration and pointed out invited guests in the crowd who were victimized by crime committed by people in the country illegally.
“Still, with all our successful efforts to provide law and order, the impacts of the Biden administration’s open border policies have made their way to Florida,” DeSantis said.
“Here today is Bryan Ramos, who was the victim of a hit and run that tragically also took the life of his friend Nico Bagalihog at the age of 28. The driver who ran over Bryan and Nico was an illegal alien, and when the suspect was arrested by FHP, they found he had been previously deported three times and had no right to be in this country,” DeSantis said.
“Also here today is Paula Fredrick, the mother of Amy Fredrick who was killed by fentanyl at just 25 years old. Fentanyl that undoubtedly was trafficked across our porous Southern Border.”
DeSantis continued, “We refuse to sit idly by while Biden’s Border Crisis ruins lives across the nation. Since President Biden won’t stop the flow of illegal immigrants and dangerous drugs across the border, Florida has been forced to pick up the slack. We’ve now sent over 100 Florida State Troopers and dozens of FWC officers to help Texas with border operations, banned sanctuary cities, and instituted policies to deter illegal immigration into our state.”
“The Biden Border Crisis has made every state a border state – and Florida is fighting back!”
Fox News
Republican candidate Ron DeSantis will sit down with Fox News' Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum this evening for one hour.
The town hall event will begin at 6 p.m. ET and be aired live from Des Moines, Iowa ahead of the caucuses less than one week away.
Earlier Tuesday, the Florida governor gave his annual State of the State address in Tallahassee before jumping back on the campaign trail and making his way to Iowa. DeSantis has been governor of Florida since 2019.
The exclusive Fox News event tonight is the second of three town halls hosted by Fox News this week.
On Monday, Baier and MacCallum hosted a town hall with GOP hopeful Nikki Haley in front of a live audience. The co-moderators and town hall attendees asked Haley about her stance on issues including abortion, term limits, the war between Russia and Ukraine, GOP rivals like former President Trump and DeSantis, and other topics.
During the town hall, Haley pushed back on the recent Hillary Clinton jab from DeSantis' campaign, saying "DeSantis is desperate."
"He's lying because he's losing."
A Quinnipiac University public opinion survey from December showed Haley and DeSantis are tied for a distant second place behind GOP frontrunner Trump.
Live Coverage begins here