Dave Rubin (4:20)

Right. Did you think you really ended him in that debate? I mean, you banged him up so good that I think it was made clear at that point that the Democrats. I'm talking about Newsom, of course, that the Democrats couldn't go with him when they ultimately replaced Biden. But the man. And I don't want to spend too much time on this because I think there's more important issues. But to some extent, the guy, he's like Freddy Krueger, no matter how many times you get rid of him, he just reappears.

Ron DeSantis (4:41)

Well, I think, you know, I mean, when we did that debate on Fox with Hannity, you know, the next, there was a lot of talk that he was gonna take over for Biden as the candidate. And so the morning after that, you know, we got back channels from people that were supportive of both Biden and Harris that were like, you know, thanks for. Thanks for exposing this guy. So I definitely think it had an impact for him. But I just think the reality is California is our largest state by far. You have close to 40 million people, even though they've done everything they can to destroy it, you know. You know, it is home to some of the most significant industries in this country. Not because of anything he's done, it's things that have been built up over many decades, but the reality is it is very a significant state. So if he were the governor of a different state, then it may not be as much, but it's just. He's gonna have a certain amount of spotlight. And I think the Democratic Party, they're just like, they're rudderless right now. They don't have leaders. That's kind of normal when you're not in the White House. But I think that because they've really been infected by the woke agenda and their ideology is just so out of step with the American people that they're just looking for some type of leadership. The problem, though, Dave, is these are 80, 20 issues. Whether we should allow riots or not, right? I mean, there's 20% of the country that thinks what they're doing is. Is fine and it's quote, unquote justified because they don't like the laws, they don't like the president, whatever. But 80% of the people want order restored. The problem for The Dems, those 20%, that's their base. Those are the people that vote in these Dem primaries. And so I think that most of them are probably just ideologically inclined to side with the unrest. But I do think even some of those people that may wanna have cooler heads prevail, they do know for them in their party, there is actually political detriment that they could face from actually standing for law and order because of how crazy their activists have gotten, right?

Dave Rubin (6:41)

At some point, the marginal Democrat who lives in the Hollywood Hills, when the hills start burning, they might go, okay, we've had enough placating to these people, but hopefully it doesn't get to that point. I wanna jump back to something you said earlier, because you mentioned that we wanna respect the Constitution. Obviously we are A law and order state. What I've noticed is they're, they're being very careful about sort of the outright violence, how they push all of our laws. So in Florida, what is our policy? If they're, if they're going to take over, just. It's not about throwing rocks, let's say, which obviously they'd be arrested, you know, over an overpass or something like that. But if they're going to take over a street without a permit or something like that, are these people immediately going to be arrested? Like, what. What is actually our policy the second they step over that line, as blurry as they want it to be?

Ron DeSantis (7:25)

Well, the Hamas demonstrations, when that was in vogue, they tried to do that in the city of Miami, and the Miami PD got him off the street in 13 minutes. They tried to do it in central Florida on a state road. And our state highway patrol, they were able to Dispatch them in 11 minutes. And so, yes, there is zero tolerance. You have no right to commandeer streets. And first of all, it's just wrong. Second of all, that has huge impacts on people's quality of life. You, you may have a parent needing to go pick up a child from, from daycare, from a camp or from school. You may have. Somebody has a medical issue they need to get, and what, you're going to clog all the roads. So we have an absolutely zero tolerance policy for that. And we also have a policy that if you're driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety. And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, and that's their fault for impinging on you, you don't have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets, you have a right to defend yourself in Florida.

Dave Rubin (8:36)

Governor, I'm so glad you said that, because we showed a video of a guy in Chicago from last night who did just that. And I said that I didn't know what the laws were in Chicago, and I said, I'm not even sure what the laws are here in Florida. So I'm very glad to hear you say that. Let me ask you, you've obviously been on the front end of coordinating a lot of the deportation stuff and working with ice, with the federal government. How's that going here in Florida? I mean, are there. I know we had all sorts of problems. Close to where I live, we had about 30 Chinese migrants that magically showed up, and thank God they were caught and taken out from the Miami area. But how's that coordination working out right now?

Ron DeSantis (9:11)

Well, I think you and I discussed at the beginning of the year, I called a special session of the Florida legislature in the wake of President Trump's victory, and this was his number one issue. I said, we need to be on the team. Yeah, we're not a sanctuary state. We banned sanctuary cities my first year as governor, but that's not enough. ICE has been decimated under Joe Biden. The only way you're going to have good interior enforcement of immigration laws is if state and local law enforcement agencies are assisting and cooperating with the federal government. So I had to fight the legislature. The speaker of the House tried to kill it. There was a lot of public outrage from our base, and so they eventually had to pass it. But what we do is we require all state and local law enforcement agencies to actively cooperate with federal immigration efforts. And so you occasionally have seen since we signed that legislation, you know, a sheriff may pop off in, like, a blue county and say, oh, I don't. I gotta focus on my stuff. I can't do immigration. And then the Attorney General of Florida will write a letter saying, well, I wanna let you know, here are your duties under the law, because as governor, if you're violating your duties and breaching those duties, I can suspend you from office. And so when they're reminded of that, then they kind of change their tune. So you can do these agreements with ICE, with local and state agencies. They're called 287G agreements, but basically what it does is it effectively deputizes the state and local officials and law enforcement agencies into immigration. So when Biden was president, if Florida Highway Patrol pulled over an illegal alien for driving drunk, has no license, has no right to be here, they could call ICE and say, hey, ice, we've got this guy's here illegally. But with Biden, ICE wouldn't show up. So they don't have any authority to hold him under federal immigration law. Now, because our guys have been deputized under highway patrol, they can say, okay, you're here illegally. I'm driving you over to ice. We're gonna check in, we're gonna do all that, and we're going to get you deported. So it's been a sea change between the Trump administration coming in, but then are leading the way with these agreements. And so of all the law enforcement agencies around the country that have done 287 agreements with the federal government, Half of them are Florida based law enforcement agencies, just one state.

Dave Rubin (11:30)

So. So to that point, are you getting calls from other governors, maybe Democrats, I suspect Republicans who aren't quite as good on all of this stuff as we've been here in Florida asking for advice Because I have no doubt that they're fighting with local police chiefs and have don't have the coordination with the feds that you just mentioned and everything else.

Ron DeSantis (11:48)

Honestly, I'm surprised, Dave. I thought when we had our immigration fight. So I called the special session before President Trump took office. The special session started the week after he was sworn in and I figured he's going to issue these executive orders on day one. We'll be ready to go, we're on the team. And you know, I had the leadership in the House of Representatives tried to tank it and not only tried to tank it, they tried to end all of my current enforcement efforts. Cuz we've got maritime operations going on, we have transport, we've got a lot of stuff we've done particularly to protect ourselves against Biden. They wanted to end that. They wanted to eliminate the governor from having any role in immigration enforcement and give it to the Commissioner of Agriculture. So that's what happened. We won that fight and they ended up doing what we needed done. But, but I think after that I thought you'd have other states follow suit, but maybe because we had opposition even from these so called Republicans that there is kind of an undercurrent in the Republican Party where some of them really don't want immigration enforcement because you have cheap labor, you know, different businesses like it, all this other stuff that's not gonna work. So I really had to force this through. This was a big, big fight here in Florida and we have almost a 3 to 1 Republican advantage in the Florida House of Representatives. And yet they tried to effectively make Florida a sanctuary state. And so I have not had other states follow suit. There have been some small things that I think have been positive, but I do not believe there's any other state in the country that that has duties on all local and state agencies, law enforcement agencies to participate with immigration efforts. And here's the thing, some people say, oh, you know, a sheriff's department, they've got all these other things they have to worry about. This detracts, it doesn't detract. When you have enforcement of immigration laws, you're reducing crime, you're reducing a lot of the problems in society, you're removing magnets for people to come. Why do they go to Southern California. Cuz they know there's no, they're never gonna be held accountable in Florida. They know, you know what, I'm gonna be held accountable. So I know the President and Secretary Noem have called upon states to do these 287 agreements. But the issue is most of these local agencies do not wanna do the agreements. Even so called conservative sheriffs throughout the country, a lot of them just don't think it's their issue. They just want to say it's the federal government's issue. And I'm just here to tell you it isn't going to work if everyone takes that position. You need to be the force multiplier if we actually want to want to establish interior enforcement. So I think Florida has the model. ICE has said that publicly, DHS has said that publicly. In fact, I think ICE did a post on X the other day saying be like Florida, join the team. Right? But we haven't really seen as much as I had hoped we would in other states.

Dave Rubin (14:52)

No. And I know it's a little insider baseball of Florida politics, but thank God you won that fight because the fact that we have these kind of squishy House Republicans in Florida is very confusing for when I talked about it on the show, people outside of the state, they can't believe it because you know, they watch the show, they think everything's perfect here. But yeah, to your point, even here we have some of that. So let me ask you this. If you right now, if you got the call from Gavin Newsom and he was like, man, I need some help, what the hell should I do right now? What would you tell him as the Governor of California to do right now? I'll ask you the same question about Trump in just a second. But what would you tell him to do right now?

Ron DeSantis (15:28)

Stop the unrest? I don't know what authorities he has vis a vis the local officials. I have authorities in Florida. I would exercise those authorities. If the mayor's not going to have the LAPD stop the madness, you can discipline the mayor potentially in Florida we potentially could do that. So you have to stop the unrest. And some of the people in the base aren't gonna be happy with that. But all this does is spiral out of control. And I think we're gonna see what happens tonight. We'll see what happens this weekend. You gotta nip it in the bud. We have offered National Guard assistance and we're happy to send that. And California has helped us and after hurricanes and stuff, and we do help each other with states, but you are never going to be able to establish order if you're blaming the President for sending National Guard to try to restore order. And I'll tell you this, Dave, and you probably can speak to it as good as anyone. A lot of the people that have moved from Southern California to Florida, Yeah, they like the no income tax. Yeah. They like the fact that we were open during COVID They like the fact that our schools are pushing back on woke. There's a lot to offer. The number one thing they like about Florida compared to Southern California is law and order, because they knew they didn't have that in la. And they've seen the deterioration of so many parts of the city and county. And it didn't just happen by chance. It's been intentional from these really feckless politicians.

Dave Rubin (16:59)

Yeah. I mean, Gov, you know where I live, and I'm telling you, every day I walk my dog and I meet a new neighbor still, because so many people are coming here and they are the reddest of the red and they're all transplants from Cali. So it's not, it's not the people that 10 years ago we're leaving Cali for taxes, going to Utah or Montana and then voting the same way. Let me ask you the same question as it pertains to Trump. Is Trump doing anything right now that you think he shouldn't be doing, or is there something that he's missing right now? Or just steamroll ahead?

Ron DeSantis (17:28)

Look, he has not only the right to do what he's doing, he has a duty to do what he's doing. First of all, he has a duty to protect these federal law enforcement personnel. He has a duty to protect these buildings and installations of the federal government. That's unquestioned. He has that duty in the right. And so the people that are complaining about that are way off base. But then I would also say yes, primarily it's a local responsibility to maintain order. When the locals break down, then the state can step in, which is how I would handle it in Florida. I mean, if there's something people try to do, something in Tampa, Tampa will handle it. And if they don't, then I have state law enforcement, I have National Guard, and we won't hesitate to act. But in this case, you know, the governor hasn't done what he needs to do. So you have people there who are, yes, they're from Los Angeles, they're Californians, but they're Americans. And so he has a responsibility to protect the American people. And that's what he's doing. So I think he's acting like wholly appropriately. It's interesting. They filed the lawsuit in San Francisco, and you'd think normally a San Francisco judge would want to issue some type of injunction immediately. You haven't seen that happen. Because I think people realize, you know, part of the reason we even have a republic under this constitution is because our founders feared the mob getting out of control. The one thing they wanted the federal government to be able to do was to restore order if you had a situation where you had rioting and a runaway mob. And so I think the president is absolutely right. I think he's been strong on it. And, you know, he may need to do things in other parts of the country if those local officials and state officials continue to do it. I think most of the places in this country either are going to have a local official that doesn't want to see that happen, or if they don't, then maybe the governor will step in. Now, there are places where you'll probably have a very blue mayor and a blue governor, and I think those would be the places to watch. But, you know, sometimes, Dave, people say, oh, well, presidents have rarely done this and all this stuff. And I think that's true. But if you think about it, usually, regardless of party, if you're a mayor and a governor, having unrest occur on your watch is a bad thing. You would not try to use that as something that would be good politically to kowtow to, like a fringe base that no one would want that to happen because it's central to the quality of life that the voters that elected you care about. And so I think that's part of the reason why you have it. There's not really much of an incentive until these Democrats have gotten so crazy where you would want to be on the side of the unrest. And so we're just in unchartered waters.

Dave Rubin (20:16)

Let me just ask you one or two more, because I know we're a little tight on time here. Let me ask you something about the cultural aspect to this, because it's very obvious where you and I and Floridians and most Americans stand on the deportations. But I'm also starting to grow more and more concerned about the homegrown problem we have here, that we have no idea how many of these masked people who are throwing bricks over overpasses and burning these building down actually are just Americans, Americans who've been brainwashed. What do you think we can do culturally or educationally or otherwise to stem some of that? Because I have a, I have a bad feeling. It's, it's actually a disproportionate amount of homegrown stuff. And those are not people you can deport.

Ron DeSantis (20:56)

Well, I think there is some truth that these, the unrest and the violence and the riots that we've seen are not entirely because of the immigration issue. I think there's some of these people that you're pointing out this is just the latest pretext. These are probably the same people that were out there for Hamas, in favor of Hamas. They'll be the same people who will be out nine months from now when there was. There's another issue. So we do have a class of people. I think it's relatively small, but I think they have a disproportionate impact who really just are hostile to the foundations of America and the American way of life. I think they're very radical left and I think you actually saw some of these people interviewed. They're like, well, what do you want America to be like? Oh, socialists. Well, where is that? Well, Soviet Union was, was, was a good example. And I'm thinking like you're saying that as a good thing. So yes, there is a problem with that for some reason. These are the folks that always find a way to have funding. I mean, these groups that are leading this are funded by people like Soros. This is just what they do on the left. And there's a long conversation about how much all this money has gotten into these foundations and are being sent to do this and that and everything. But suffice it to say this is not an organic uprising. This is something that is absolutely funded and is absolutely directed.

Dave Rubin (22:23)

Are we looking at any of that in the state to figure out where the funding is? I mean, is that all left to the feds or do we look at any of that?

Ron DeSantis (22:30)

I think it's primarily the feds, but I think what we will do is, you know, they say that there's going to be this stuff on the 14th. I've already put out a directive to state law enforcement if these Soros backed groups. Well, any group, but I think it's these Soros backed groups. One of the things that they're threatening to do is to dox ICE agents. And the only reason you dox an ICE agent is cause you're trying to get the mob to go and cause the person harm. And so we've let it be known we'll have zero tolerance for that in the state of Florida. And we will absolutely pursue every legal avenue to hold Those groups accountable. They're supposedly going to do demonstrations all over the country, so we'll see what they do. In Florida, we already have our state resources on alert. They will be deployed as needed. People can say, you know, we have strong anti riot legislation. We've done a lot since I've been governor. People can always choose to do the wrong thing, even in Florida. The difference is, in Florida, you ain't just getting a slap on the wrist like they do in Portland, and you go right back on the street, you're going to end up in the inside of a jail cell and you will be held accountable. So we will do everything within our authority to bring people to justice.

Dave Rubin (23:41)

Man, I am so freaking proud to live in this state, and you are such a large part of that. So I'm gonna end this with an easy softball question, which is that you have a limited amount of time now in your last term as Florida governor. What can we, as Floridians do to help you accomplish whatever else you want to accomplish? Like, what are the big things you want to accomplish in the remainder of your term? Because you fought and helped me get here, I will fight with you, man. What can we do?

Ron DeSantis (24:05)

Well, thanks. Well, first of all, I'd say, you know, just this year we did the landmark immigration legislation, which is unique in the country. We got that done. It wasn't easy, but we did. We also got legislation done to help with the condo situation in Florida, which is something people need a relief for. I'm going to sign that bill very shortly. We also did things to crack down on the fraud from these petitions where they get on the ballot and spend all this money to try to change Florida's constitution. We. So those were the three things immediately we had to get done. The next big fight is relief from property taxes. I believe as a homeowner, you should be able to own your home and property free and clear. But if they can continue to tax you indefinitely, you're effectively paying rent for the government. The government now that requires a constitutional amendment that will be placed on the ballot in 2026. We are working on the exact proposal. We're going to work with the legislature at the beginning of 2026 to be able to do it. But I would tell people is we absolutely could have a future in Florida where we not only have no state income tax, but if you're a homesteaded resident for your. For your primary residence, you can own that free and clear without having to pay property tax. You want to talk about the free state of Florida? That would be the free state of Florida on steroids.

Dave Rubin (25:29)

When I got here and I bought my house and then I didn't even know about the homestead thing. And then my, it was my lawyer, my accountant, somebody showed it to me, I was like, I mean, this place, we've just done it, right? Governor, I appreciate your time and I look forward to seeing because there's just no doubt that there's going to be some weirdness in the next week or so. And I just know we're going to deal with it right here. And that's in large part because of you. So appreciate it as always.

Ron DeSantis (25:49)

Okay, take care.

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