DeSantis Reveals His Favorite President, Wishes He Could Have Dinner with Jesus's Disciples
Florida Governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis sat down for an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network this Thursday where he revealed more about himself, as well as his reverence for America’s founding fathers.
Speaking with CBN News‘ David Brody at the Florida Governor’s Mansion, 44-year-old DeSantis began by telling Brody of his childhood and his strict Catholic upbringing.
His family told him plainly as a boy: “You’re not going to get anything handed to you.”
“I think that they were very, very clear about what I needed to be doing for my obligations; do well in school, make sure you’re in church every Sunday, make sure you’re working around the house,” DeSantis said.
He described attending grade school at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, saying that while he didn’t like it at the time, he now appreciates the principles the school instilled in him.
“I think the things that I didn’t like about it were because they were doing the right thing by making sure that we were disciplined,” he said in the interview with Brody. “You would pray every day but some of the nuns were very strict about what your obligations were. And again, as a young kid, maybe not the most fun at the time, but I think [it] was the right approach.”
DeSantis noted the importance of staying close to God, even in the hardest times of life – which for him was likely when his sister died in 2015 and when his wife Casey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021.
“Our household is a Christ-centered household,” DeSantis told Brody. “We’re raising our kids with those values. We think that that’s very important.”
JUST IN: Ron DeSantis talks about how prayer does indeed make a difference. He speaks candidly with me at the Governor’s Residence about his wife’s battle with cancer and his sister’s sudden death. @CaseyDeSantis @RonDeSantis @CBNNews @700club pic.twitter.com/9l130zglnP
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
NEW: Ron DeSantis reveals his favorite Bible Verse and says, “Our household is a Christ-centered household.” Watch my discussion with @RonDeSantis at the Governor’s Residence in Tallahassee. @CBNNews @700club pic.twitter.com/NmPRFmYEhX
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
Going on to discuss politics and the role of Christianity in government, DeSantis praised the founding fathers for their work in establishing a free nation.
“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,” he said.
“Before them it was thought the king has the power. So you may have rights as a subject of some kingdom but it’s the courtesy of what the state is giving you. That’s not what our founders believed.”
JUST IN: Ron DeSantis says our society needs more God and that America “was built on the foundation of what happened thousands of years ago in the Holy Land.” This is part of my exclusive interview with @RonDeSantis at the Governor’s Residence in Tallahassee. Airing on @700club… pic.twitter.com/lr4NFK5etg
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
Asked about rumors of James Madison being his favorite president, DeSantis said that while Madison is not his favorite president, he’s his favorite “constitutional theorist.”
“He understood constitutional government checks and balances,” DeSantis said, noting that he was largely responsible for the constitution having stood the test of time.
His favorite president, however, is actually the country’s first: George Washington.
JUST IN: Ron Desantis would have loved to hang out with Jesus and His Disciples. Plus, his pick for best president in U.S. History. This is part of my exclusive interview with @RonDeSantis at the Governor’s Residence in Tallahassee. Watch Today on @700club and online at… pic.twitter.com/v7GdrNneNX
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
The reason for this, as he explained, is because after having led America’s forces in the war for American independence from Britain, Washington became a very respected leader and could have easily seized the moment and never given up the presidency, DeSantis explained. But he didn’t. He gave up the power of essentially becoming King, and went back to his private life.
“Washington had unimpeachable character. This is somebody who could have been king of this country,” DeSantis said. “But he surrendered his sword to the continental Congress, retired to Mount Vernon, and of course they called them back to the constitutional convention and elected him president. He said I’m only doing two terms and he went and retired.”
Giving up such power was such a profound move, as DeSantis explained, “George III couldn’t believe it and he said ‘if he did that and voluntarily gave up power, he’s the greatest man in the world.'”
“Washington was the indispensable man. If he had not been there, I don’t know that the country would have gotten off the ground,” he said, adding that “we’ve never had anyone else like him.”
Then responding to a hypothetical question about wanting to meet anyone in history, DeSantis said he would probably want to be with Jesus and his disciples.
“Could I have been there with Jesus’s disciples? I mean, these are people who – Peter’s just fishing one day, and all of a sudden, this guy comes up to him, catches all the fish and says, ‘I want you to be a fisher of men, come with me.’ And so these guys all went out and they dedicated their life to spreading the Gospel,” he said.
Being able to have such a discussion, DeSantis said he would have liked to “talk about what that was like. Talk about what their impressions are, you know. I look back at that and would love to have been able to be there with them.”
As a former Navy veteran and lawyer, DeSantis has served as Florida’s Republican governor for four years now and was a congressman for six years before that.
DeSantis officially announced his presidential candidacy earlier last month and has consistently led as one of the top contenders in hypothetical 2024 matchups.
Gov. Ron DeSantis on pardoning Donald Trump if he becomes POTUS: “If there was a different standard, we’re going to be very inclined to grant clemency in those situations.” This is from my exclusive interview w/ @RonDeSantis at the Governor’s Residence in Tallahassee. @CBNNews pic.twitter.com/CA3j15HZi6
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) June 16, 2023
However, while DeSantis has outperformed President Joe Biden in many polls, former President Donald Trump continues to hold a lead above both in several polls as well.
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