DeSantis on the ‘deep state’: ‘We are going to start slitting throats on day one’
Mabinty Quarshie
Video Embed
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) wasn’t mincing words during a three-day campaign swing in New Hampshire.
Pushing a tough candidate persona, DeSantis said he would gut the number of employees working for the federal government. “We’re going to have all of these deep state people, you know, we are going to start slitting throats on day one,” DeSantis said on Sunday, if he were elected president in 2024. He also declared that, as president, Mexican drug cartels were going to be “shot stone-cold dead.”
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: ALL THE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE ARRAIGNMENT AT DC COURTHOUSE
DeSantis made the comments at a barbecue campaign event hosted by former Sen. Scott Brown. The governor is in the middle of a campaign reset following weeks of his campaign facing financial problems. On Monday, he unveiled a “Declaration of Economic Independence,” a 10-point plan, in New Hampshire that touched on helping the middle class and small businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, among other actions.
https://twitter.com/alexnazaryan/status/1686933134531526656
Not everyone accepted DeSantis’s use of violent rhetoric. Olivia Troye, a former Homeland Security and counterterrorism adviser to former Vice President Mike Pence, said DeSantis was no different than former President Donald Trump.
“No different than Trump … except he’s got the personality of a doormat. Slitting throats of federal employees on day one? Is that a threat DeSantis? This is atrocious,” Troye said.
Trump remains the front-runner of the race, with DeSantis in a distant second place. Pence recently began to increase his criticisms against Trump following a historic third indictment, which was released this week, over efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
https://twitter.com/OliviaTroye/status/1687118970002751488
Former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh chimed in: “Who says something like that? He said something like that. He really said it. Look, I know cruelty sells in my former world of the right, but this is … this is such a bad thing to say.”
https://twitter.com/WalshFreedom/status/1687107615531368448
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
During the Sunday event, DeSantis also referenced his opposition to “woke” ideology, a factor he has championed in Florida and while running for president. “We’re going to ensure the ‘woke’ agenda ends up in the dustbin of history,” he said.
DeSantis faces an uphill climb to wrestle the Republican presidential nomination away from Trump. His campaign has stumbled in the two months since he launched a 2024 bid. DeSantis’s poll numbers have declined, while Trump’s poll numbers have increased amid growing legal problems.