Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Tuesday released a new plan to “remove vigilance from the military” and speed up recruitment. But when confronted with data suggesting that vigilance is not a major factor deterring Americans from joining the armed forces, the presidential candidate claimed that most opponents of “vigilance” couldn’t really define the term.
“Not everyone really knows what wakefulness is,” DeSantis told CNN host Jake Tapper after Tapper told him that “wakefulness” is well below the most common frequency Reasons people don’t get in touch, These include fear of dying or suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. “I mean, I’ve defined it, but a lot of people who rail against wakefulness can’t even define it.”
DeSantis made the comments during his first taped sit-in interview with a mainstream news outlet, an attempt to broaden his base of support for his faltering presidential bid against former President Donald Trump.
The 15-minute CNN exclusive was preempted by the news Trump is expecting his third criminal chargeThis was in reference to the Special Counsel’s investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, according to a post Trump published on Truth Social Tuesday afternoon.
DeSantis didn’t take the news as an opportunity to attack Trump – instead he defended him.
“This country is taking the path of criminalizing political differences, and I think that’s wrong,” DeSantis said, before calling previous charges that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought against Trump as flimsy and politically motivated.
“Alvin Bragg stretched the statue in Manhattan to target Donald Trump. “Most people, even those on the left, agree that this case probably wouldn’t have been brought against a normal civilian if it wasn’t for Trump,” DeSantis said.
Trump hasn’t been so coy about pursuing DeSantis. Earlier this month, he mocked the Florida governor for overusing the word “woke” to describe liberal ideology. “Half the people can’t even define it” said Trump in Iowa.
DeSantis later defined “woke”. an NBC journalist as “a form of cultural Marxism” that is about “putting merit and achievement behind identity politics, and it’s basically a war on truth.”
Earlier in South Carolina, DeSantis unveiled a five-point military plan that would ban transgender members from service consistent with their gender identity. The plan would also eliminate diversity and inclusion programs and courses that teach “critical racial theory,” causes DeSantis promoted as governor and which he blames for the slowdown in military recruitment.
“People want to join the military because they think it’s something different,” he said on CNN, “and I think some of the civilian leaders in the military are trying to get the military, American corporations, and academia to do it to imitate.” Ultimately, that won’t work.”