Liberty University awards DeSantis honorary degree as he courts evangelicals
Ryan King
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Liberty University awarded Gov. Ron DeSantis an honorary degree of the Doctorate of Humanities following his keynote speech to the institution.
“We want to recognize you for your service. Number one to guide, number two to your family, number three to America, number four, to the great state of Florida, and then five and six, for defending our liberties and the principles of freedom here in our country,” interim President Jerry Prevo told DeSantis.
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DeSantis’s speech comes as 2024 aspirants jockey for support among the core evangelical voter bloc and to make inroads with social conservatives. He spoke at Liberty the day after signing a six-week abortion ban into law.
Under the recent ban, abortion is prohibited once an “unborn child has a detectible heartbeat,” which can occur as early as six weeks. The law will be in stasis until the state Supreme Court overturns a previous precedent on abortion. The law comes as Democrats have pummeled Republicans over the issue, putting many 2024 hopefuls on the defensive.
The governor used his keynote address to tout his record in Florida while also highlighting transgenderism and the fight against wokeness.
Attendees gave DeSantis a warm welcome, often cheering throughout his keynote, especially when he called it “wrong for physicians to pump minors with puberty blockers.” These remarks followed many other speeches throughout his tour across the United States ahead of his speculated 2024 campaign launch.
“The woke agenda has caused millions of Americans to leave these jurisdictions for greener pastures. This has been a great exodus of Americans. Florida has served as the most desired destination, a promised land of sanity in a world that has increasingly gone off its rocker. We have embraced freedom,” DeSantis said.
Liberty University is a private Baptist institution known as one of the few conservative-leaning higher education institutions in the country. DeSantis invoked the Bible and religion at times during his address.
“We must embrace our founding creed that our rights are not courtesy of the government. They are the gift from Almighty God,” DeSantis proclaimed during his speech before closing on 2 Timothy. “I will fight the good fight, I will finish the race, and I will keep the faith.”
His chief political rival, former President Donald Trump, has long had strong support from evangelicals, but there have been some signs of erosion as alternatives spring up in the primary. Trump was particularly cozy with Jerry Falwell Jr., the former president of Liberty University.
Falwell Jr. agreed to step down in 2020 after posting a racy photo on social media that preceded revelations about alleged affairs. His father, Jerry Falwell, founded the institution and was a major religious conservative leader.
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Later in the day on Friday, DeSantis will headline the Amos Tuck Dinner in New Hampshire, which is the largest annual state Republican Party fundraising gala.
DeSantis has traveled to key states such as Iowa, South Carolina, Michigan, New York, Texas, and more in the past few weeks as he gears up for a presidential run. A formal announcement is expected at some point after the Florida legislative session concludes in May.