Florida Governor Ron DeSantis got his biggest round of applause during the first GOP presidential debate when he said he would work to ensure the Europeans pay their security obligations so the U.S. military does not need to go to Ukraine. He will instead send U.S. troops to secure the country's southern border.
DeSantis and Nikki Haley threw jabs at each other after Haley said the U.S. can both work to support Ukraine in their fight against Russia and work to secure our southern border at the same time.
"But we're not doing both!" DeSantis replied. "And so I am going to declare a national emergency. I'm not gonna send troops to Ukraine, but I AM gonna send 'em to our southern border! When these drug pushers are bringing fentanyl across the border, that's gonna be the last thing they do! We're gonna use force, and we're gonna leave 'em stone cold dead!"
DESANTIS: "I'm not gonna send troops to Ukraine, but I AM gonna send 'em to our southern border!"
— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) August 24, 2023
"When these drug pushers are bringing fentanyl across the border, that's gonna be the last thing they do! We're gonna use force, and we're gonna leave 'em stone cold dead!" pic.twitter.com/jwR2tzLYPn
In an interview with "Fox & Friends" on Thursday, DeSantis promised to follow through on declaring Mexican drug cartels as terrorist organizations due to their tactics and the drugs that are killing Americans at record levels.
DeSantis also said there will be "maritime operations" to interdict Chinese companies who are shipping the precursor chemicals for fentanyl to Mexico.
The Mexican drug cartels are invading our country and killing our people.
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 24, 2023
When I’m president, we are going to treat them like the foreign terrorist organizations that they are. pic.twitter.com/z9oJk3wWCD