Fox News "The Ingraham Angle" - Transcript: Interview with Rep. Ron DeSantis

Interview

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INGRAHAM: Congressman DeSantis is looking for moments like that down the home stretch and he looks to make up what is now about a six-point deficit in the Real Clear Politics average versus his opponent, Tallahassee mayor and uber liberal Andrew Gillum. Joining me now with how he might do that is Florida Congressman, gubernatorial candidate, Ron DeSantis. Congressman, thanks for being here. We invited Mayor Gillum on the program, but he politely declined. So how do close the gap in these polls at this point?

DESANTIS: I'm not worried about polls. I'm worried about votes. We've had a very good showing. We're turning out the voters we need to. We're going to continue to do it. My primary average when I won the primary was 15 points off, it was off for Gillum. So I definitely do not go by media polls. I go by our polling, our targeting, and everything is going in a good direction.

And I think the reason is because you have a candidate like Andrew, he's running on abolishing ICE. He said last debate he would not cooperate with ICE at all. And so, you know, if you have somebody who is criminally illegal, we want to get them out, you have to be able to do that.

He also is embroiled in this ethics scandal because he lied about it on Sunday night. He said that he pays for everything, has never gotten anything for free. Then documents come out two days later showing he got $1,000 ticket to "Hamilton," this play, from an undercover FBI agent posing as a contractor with business before the city. But also, the documents also showed he got $1,000 stay at a villa in Costa Rica with these lobbyists who are trying to get a contract through the city of Tallahassee. And guess what, they helped arrange the "Hamilton," they helped to arrange the Costa Rica pay for, and then Andrew Gillum gives them a $2 million contract to build a restaurant in Tallahassee. That is the essence of corruption.

INGRAHAM: Yes. And "Hamilton," it's nice to have Washington on your side. It's nice to have the real estate developer on your side, or it's nice to have Mayor Gillum on your side. Congress, Mayor Gillum responded tonight, saying this was all a distraction, ethical concerns, whether he lied, and it was last night actually. Let's watch.

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INGRAHAM: OK, so that was his response. In other words, it's kind of all racially charged, maybe even racist.

DESANTIS: Laura, it's not about black or white. It's about right or wrong. And the fact of the matter is when you're taking gifts from an undercover FBI agent, that's wrong. When you are taking gifts from lobbyists, that's wrong. And it does violate Florida law. But then when you give them what they were looking for, this $2 million, that's the essence of the quid pro quo thing. And it's obviously wrong to lie about, and lie about it -- and he was indignant on Sunday night. He said, I'm a grown man, I pay for everything myself. Then it turns out he doesn't pay for very much that we've seen in these documents.

And so I think he realizes he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar, he realizes he's been lying. And think about this, Laura. He still says, I have not been under FBI investigation. If he is not under investigation, why would an undercover agent be giving him $1,000 ticket to "Hamilton"? Of course he is under investigation.

INGRAHAM: He took it up a notch tonight in the debate with you in responding to these same charges and the concern about getting free stuff from agents posing as this developer. Let's watch.

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INGRAHAM: That's an old trick, the left does that a lot. The communists believe he's a communist, you could play that game all day long. But he's made this a racial issue, so every time you raise a question about his is ethics, his brother is now under investigation, right, Marcus, for maybe voting illegally, clearly there is an FBI investigation ongoing. It's racist to mention that, so how are you to debate him if every inconvenient fact becomes a charge of racism, Congressman?

DESANTIS: I think what he's doing is turning off voters. The fact of the matter is, he's a career politician. He's been in office since he was 22, never had a job outside of politics. And he acts like one. He doesn't accept responsibility for anything. He always looks to pass the blame to somebody else. And so that's really what he's doing here. He's trying to divert away from the fact that he's running on a radical agenda that Floridians don't want, and he's embroiled in a corruption scandal that he's been lying about four months and has now got caught red-handed. So that's just the reality. And look, voters see right through what he's doing.

INGRAHAM: He made a big deal at the first debate, we're almost out of time, about you get support from the NRA. Doesn't he get support from Planned Parenthood and all these leftist groups that are responsible for the snuffing out of hundreds of thousands of lives every year?

DESANTIS: Exactly. And he says I will believe in science. Well, he doesn't believe in science when it comes to right to life, I'll tell you that.

INGRAHAM: Fantastic. And thanks so much, Congressman, for coming on tonight.

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