Florida Governor and Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said during an interview this week that a key component for turning America around is going to be people turning back to their faith.
DeSantis made the remarks during an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) while discussing a range of issues related to his faith.
“I always believed that it doesn’t matter where you start,” DeSantis said. “If you put that nose to the grindstone and work hard, God has a plan for you and you can do well in this country.”
DeSantis said that his Catholic faith has kept him grounded and that he focuses on living out his faith versus just talking about it.
“Our household is a Christ-centered household,” DeSantis said. “We’re raising our kids with those values. We think that that’s very important. … It’s great for us when our kids are coming back from preschool or kindergarten, talking about David and Goliath and we’re like, thank you. So we’re very, very appreciative of being able to do that. … My son, he was four for Christmas this year, he wanted a sling to be like David slaying Goliath, and so that really warms our hearts when we see that.”
The governor said that the piece of scripture that is central to who he is is when Jesus said, “I’m the way, the truth, and the life.”
“I mean, that’s ultimately what the faith centers around,” DeSantis said. “Yes, there’s a lot of traditions and I think a lot of those are nice, but at the end of the day, where is your heart with respect to God and what is that relationship?”
DeSantis called out former President Donald Trump during the interview for not backing Florida’s heartbeat law.
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“While I appreciate what the former president has done in a variety of realms, he opposes that bill,” he said. “He said it was ‘harsh’ to protect an unborn child when there’s a detectable heartbeat. I think that’s humane to do.”
“I mean, I was really surprised because he’s a Florida resident and I thought he would compliment the fact that we were able to do the heartbeat bill, which pro-lifers have wanted for a long time,” he added. “He never complimented, never said anything about it. Then he was asked about it and he said it was ‘harsh.’”
DeSantis said that in order for the country to get turned around, people are going to have to start returning to their faith.
“It’s got to be spiritual,” he said. “And I think it’s got to be a strong faith, that is really going to get us through very turbulent times.”
“Look, at the end of the day, there’s certain problems, economic problems, there’s problems at the border, they are all very important, but why are we here?” he asked. “Why are we free people? We’re free because God has endowed us with inalienable rights. That’s why America was founded. Our Constitution was created, not to give us rights, but to protect the rights that God has already bestowed upon us.”