Just as a new Fox News public opinion poll shows his support among Americans continuing to slide (34-point disadvantage) against former President Donald Trump, Governor Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign has released a campaign-style interview he recently taped for The Daily Wire where acknowledges that the Washington 'Swamp' will be hard to drain or break.
The video was taped in San Francisco during Gov. DeSantis's recent trip to California, where he upset Democrats by referring to the overall city as “riff-raff.”
During the interview, DeSantis was asked if he could duplicate what he did in Florida as President:
Daily Wire—Can that carry over to the federal level? As president could you carry over some of those policies on a federal level
DeSantis—Yeah I think so. I mean first of all, Washington's different than a state, there's no question about that. The swamp is more entrenched. The bureaucracy is way more entrenched but you know that going in. One of the things I did as governor before I got in, I had a compendium of all the powers of the governor statutory constitutional customary, so I knew which leverage to push.
The same things going to happen as president and what you say is OK I've got this agenda but I gotta get it through a constitutional system So what levers can you pull to be able to advance it and so we'll be very active we'll be on offense and we're not going to just sit like a potted plant like some of these Republicans hoping that good things happen, we're gonna make these things happen and you also have the bully pulpit and you can really put issues on the agenda
But by his own admission, DeSantis understands that getting things done in Washington as he has done in Florida will be very tough.
DeSantis also mentioned that by working with the Republican-led Florida Legislature, he was able to “deliver” results for Floridians by signing legislation that lawmakers sent to his desk.
“I think the idea of draining the swamp, in some respects it I think it misses it a little bit because if you—we didn't drain it it's worse today than it's ever been by far, and that's a sad testament due to the state of affairs of our country but even if you're successful at draining it the next guy can just refill it. So I wanna break the swamp that's really what we need to do,” said DeSantis.
If he wins the Republican primary nomination and then wins the presidency, DeSantis needs Republicans to control both chambers of Congress to be as effective as he was in Florida, and even then, there are many “entrenched” hurdles that he will face.
DeSantis will not be able to fulfill his agenda by executive fiat alone, he will need the U.S. Congress to help push through legislation that he will be able to sign into law.
