Fox News "Hannity" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ron DeSantis

Interview

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HANNITY: All right. Last night, Congressman Ron DeSantis he secured the Republican nomination for governor in the great state of Florida. Big huge margin. Come-from-behind victory. He is going to face off against the Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

And Congressman DeSantis joins us now. Full disclosure, I did do town halls with him. And we talked to people. I talked too. Anyway, good to see you, Congressman. And I endorsed you and I don't regret it.

A lot of it has made you an interview with our own Sandra Smith today and you talked about not monkeying this up. And I saw your statement afterward. I saw some of the media reaction and your opponents reaction. And I want to give you a chance to respond. Did you, in any way, and do you in any way, think that was something that was misstated or racist in any way? Because that's what they're implying.

REP. RON DESANTIS, R-FLA.: It has zero to do with race, Sean. It has everything to do with whether we want Florida to continue to go on a good direction, building up the success or do we want to turn to left wing socialist policies which will absolutely devastate our state?

And here's the thing. I believe people should be judged based on their ability and character regardless of race. But it's because of that I know socialism won't work in Florida. It's not good for any race, color or creed. So this is not about race. This is about ideas and principles.

And I'm not going to let the Democrats and Andrew Gillum try to obscure a debate about whether his tax increases, his single-payer healthcare plan, his desire to abolish ICE, whether that is something that's acceptable for Florida. I don't think it is and I don't care what color you are.

HANNITY: Well, listen, Florida is become one of the fastest growing, lowest unemployed states in the country. And it's very diverse state. You know, but we're now in an environment where people want to purposely take things out of context.

Your life's work, who you are, and what other people have said, even though on their side that they support politically doesn't seem to matter. And I guess the issue comes down to who you are, what's in your heart. And what do you tell people that are hearing that news and interpretation tonight.

DESANTIS: Well, look, Sean, from athletics to the military to how I conducted myself as an elected official. I'm a straight shooter. I treat everyone with respect regardless of circumstances of birth. And I believe the great thing about this country, is that you can grow up in places where you don't have a lot of opportunity initially and you can work hard and get ahead regardless of the color of your skin. That's really--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: This is a very interesting race. We see in California with Gavin Newsom and we see with your opponent, really somebody that has taken the hard, hard left of the Democratic Party. I mean, how much does he want to tax corporations? You know, what is his position on ICE and--

(CROSSTALK)

DESANTIS: Forty percent tax increase. We have an opportunity to attract record investment in Florida on the heels of the President Trump tax cuts. And doing a 40 percent tax increase would absolutely kill Florida's economic boom. We have a $1 trillion economy. It is the wrong approach. And this is all about substance. It's about people's lives and it's about what's best for the sunshine state.

HANNITY: You know, it is amazing. Under Barack Obama, we saw how bad the economy. Disproportionately minorities were impacted. Record low unemployment for youth, for women in the workplace, African-Americans, and Hispanic-Americans. Policies matter about helping people where one country lift their lives. And that gets ignored by so many people. That's an important thing that you can help somebody's life.

DESANTIS: Sean, in Florida we have a tax credit scholarship program for low income families where the family can take that money and go to different schools including a private school. About 100,000 families are on it. Disproportionately racial and ethnic minorities. I am a big supporter of that because the results have been phenomenal.

Andre Gillum would take those scholarships away from some of the most needy families in Florida--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: I don't see how you afford any of this. Let me ask you the last question. How big and important was the president's endorsement to you in your opinion?

DESANTIS: No, I mean, he is the 800-pound gorilla in Republican politics. There's nobody that's even close in moving numbers. Although, Sean, my rise in the polls did coincide with you coming down. So maybe we can talk to the president data, look at Hannity, sir--

(CROSSTALK)

HANNITY: You mean, 2 percent and Trump gets 50. All right, I got it. I got my little place in the world. I do enjoy town halls and meeting people. And I can see that your message is resonating with people and Matt Gaetz. We have a great time.

DESANTIS: Yes.

HANNITY: Thank you for hosting me in that. That was a lot of fun.

DESANTIS: Well, thank you for your support. And we are on the path to victory in November.

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