Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis fiercely defended himself Sunday against attacks from fellow GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
The latest beef between the two presidential candidates began Thursday when Ramaswamy posted a tweet criticizing the governor for trying to shut down pro-Palestinian student groups on Florida college campuses.
“It is a shameful political ploy by @RonDeSantis to ban pro-Palestinian student groups from Florida universities. It is unconstitutional. It’s total hypocrisy for someone who railed against the left’s cancellation culture,” he wrote.
“Conservatives should be able to criticize BLM or vaccine mandates, and crazy liberals should be able to criticize Israel or the West even if they’re completely wrong,” he added.
Look at:
Freedom of speech doesn’t just protect the ideas we hold dear. Protect the ideas we hate. The idiotic “pro-Palestine” college student groups are dead wrong in excusing genocidal attacks on Jews and spewing disgusting anti-Semitism, but one of the things that makes us different from… pic.twitter.com/knDsQsXbKJ
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) October 26, 2023
Three days later on NBC, “Meet the Press” host Kristen Welker confronted DeSantis about that same tweet, asking him, “What’s your response to Mr. Ramaswamy?”
The governor responded by arguing that there is a difference between the cancellation culture, which he vehemently opposes, and what he is doing to pro-Palestinian college student groups, who are persecuting people who support a terrorist organization
“This is not canceling the culture. This group, they themselves said after the Hamas attack that they not only stand in solidarity, but they are part of this Hamas movement. And so, yes, you have the right to leave and manifest yourself, however you cannot provide material support to terrorism. They have linked themselves to Hamas,” he said.
“And so we absolutely decertify them. They shouldn’t be getting a red cent of taxpayer dollars. And we also have strong laws in Florida against fundraising for groups like Hamas. And we’re enforcing them vigorously. It’s not a matter of the First Amendment. This is material support for the issue of terrorism,” he added.
But Welker wasn’t convinced.
“Yes, to be clear, you’re citing Florida law that says you can’t give material aid or resources to a terrorist organization. Do you have any support for them actually doing that?” she pressed.
In response, DeSantis pointed to the student groups’ own words.
Listen:
“Their own words say that they are part of this organization, that they not only stand in solidarity, that they not only support what they did, but that this is also their movement. So once you hitch your wagon to a group like Hamas, that takes you out of the realm of normal activity, and that’s something we’re going to take action against. So we believe we are fully justified within the law,” he said.
“And I think things like this have been litigated over and over again. But here’s the larger point. You know, are we just going to kill ourselves as a country and metastasize to groups that are openly on the side of brutal terrorist organizations? I don’t think that is a recipe for a successful country. I want to have a country where we are protected from these things. So I think we made the right decision. I am 100%,” he added.
The “Meet the Press” interview came five days after the governor ordered Florida colleges to shut down and ban the group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP).
“State University System Chancellor Ray Rodrigues wrote to university presidents Tuesday at the behest of Gov. Ron DeSantis, directing them to disband SJP chapters. He cited the national group’s statement that “Palestinian students in exile are PART of this movement, not in solidarity with this movement.” Associated Press reported
“It is a crime under Florida law to ‘knowingly provide material support … to a designated foreign terrorist organization,'” Rodrigues wrote.
Chancellor Ray Rodrigues sends a stern opt-out letter to Florida State University System school student groups. It is time for other Universities to shut down these racist student groups who are radicalizing and morally ruining higher education. #FSU #FSUTwitter pic.twitter.com/pRn9aYN67r
— An NBA and NFL Cowgirl (@Eh_Canadaian) October 25, 2023
That being said, SJP is an old group that has been around for decades. As such, it has allies, including those at Palestine Legal, a group the AP notes “provides legal support to pro-Palestinian groups.”
“Florida, especially under the leadership of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been actively undermining education, free speech and social justice movements, even banning anti-racist courses and attempting to criminalize protests,” the group said in a statement to the AP.
“It is no surprise that this blatant move to silence the student movement for Palestinian rights is being pursued under DeSantis,” the group added.
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