This week, at Time, Molly Ball interviewed Gov. Ron DeSantis on his 2024 presidential campaign, the “parents’ rights” agenda and his personal life as a father.
The full interview can be read here.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE INTERVIEW:
On his “parents’ rights” agenda that has been central to his struggling presidential candidacy, DeSantis tells TIME: “I think we were viewed, really from Day One, as the candidate that had the strong record on the issues important to parents…It has been an issue, really, from the beginning…And so I do think we’ve tapped into that, and we’ll continue to do it.”
On Trump’s indictments and his belief that “the Department of Justice is highly political:” “When I’m president, we need a fresh start…Just like Ford pardoned Nixon, we are going to move on from the Trump controversies…These are novel applications of the law, to conduct that has not traditionally been criminalized…And I think that’s why it’s been viewed—at least in my judgment, and by people that think like me—very, very skeptically. Also, why all of a sudden are they doing this now? January 6 happened how many years ago, and I don’t know what the agenda is behind that.”
On Trump’s personality: “I must be doing something right to be able to have won a landslide re-election victory…He was somebody that Biden beat him in that first debate in 2020 and beat him very soundly. I think that there are millions of voters out there who do not like Biden, do not like the direction of the country, but just will never vote for Donald Trump.”
On how as Florida’s governor, education policy is part of his purview, but it’s also personal: “I also just see it through the lens of a dad of a six, five and three-year-old…We understand some of the things that parents are concerned about and that parents are going through. And that impacts how we view these policies, particularly when it goes to things like parents’ rights to be involved in the education.”
On issues like school choice and curriculum transparency: “In Florida, it’s not just Republican parents that care about that. A lot of independents and some Democrats were really appreciative of some of the stands we’ve taken.”
On how as a father he says he’s not the primary disciplinarian, but he’s capable of bringing the hammer down when needed: “I’m kind of the good guy most of the time—I bring the presents, I bring treats, especially when I’m on the road…Day to day, [his wife] Casey does more of the disciplining. But when I step in, and I do, if I’m a little stern, they snap into shape. I do that more rarely. But when things get out of hand, you kind of just lay the law down, and they respond to it. So I would say that they do respect the paternal influence.”
On the rights of parents of trans children, who are being prevented by Florida from accessing the medical care they may believe is in their kids’ best interest: “As a parent right now, I can’t take my six-year-old daughter and get her a tattoo, even if I want to do that…You don’t have the right to do things that are going to be destructive to kids. I think that some of these parents are being told by physicians who are making a lot of money off this that you have to do this, otherwise your kid can end up doing something like commit suicide. I think that they get bullied into thinking this is the right decision… [It is] totally appropriate for us to say that protection of children means that those things are not appropriate.”
On how he’ll respond if one of his children turns out to be gay or trans, his eyes flash momentarily, and he swiftly shuts down the question: “Well, my children are my children…We’ll leave that—we’ll leave that between my wife and I.”
Author
