DeSantis calls out pro-Palestinian organizations – Pictured: Smoke rises after Israeli air strikes on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip – Courtesy: Shutterstock — Anas-Mohammed
In the wake of Hamas’ attack on October 7, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis of Florida defended on Sunday his pledge to bar pro-Palestinian organizations from state colleges. Israel has since increased its ground offensive in Gaza.
In an exclusive interview with Kristen Welker of NBC News’ “Meet the Press,” DeSantis was asked to address Vivek Ramaswamy, a competitor of his for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, who maintained that students’ First Amendment rights would be violated by such an action. Ramaswamy tweeted, “It’s a shameful political ploy….,” trailing DeSantis in the polls. “It violates the Constitution. It is the height of hypocrisy for someone who decried left-wing cancel culture.”
DeSantis argued back on Ramaswamy’s comments: “This is not cancel culture.”
“This group, they themselves said, in the aftermath of the Hamas attack, that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they are part of this Hamas movement,” he said. “And so, yeah, you have a right to go out and demonstrate, but you can’t provide material support to terrorism.”
He accused several pro-Palestinian groups on college campuses of having “linked themselves to Hamas.”
“And so we absolutely decertified them. They should not get one red cent of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “And we also have strong laws in Florida against fundraising for groups like Hamas, and we are enforcing those vigorously. It’s not a First Amendment issue. That’s material support to the terrorism issue.”
According to Palestinian health officials, over 8,000 people—including women and children—had died in Gaza as of Sunday morning as a result of the escalation. There have been roughly 1,400 deaths in Israel.
Protests and rallies have occurred on numerous campuses as a result of the battle between Israel and the militant group Hamas, which has rekindled debate in colleges and universities across the nation.
According to the governor’s office, DeSantis this week ordered two state universities to shut down their branches of Students for Justice in Palestine because they allegedly broke state laws against antisemitism.
Welker further requested clarification from DeSantis regarding his reference to the Florida law that prohibits providing material support or resources to a terrorist organization.
“Do you have any support that they’re actually doing that?” Welker asked, referring to pro-Palestinian groups in state colleges.
DeSantis replied: “Their own words are saying they’re part of this organization, that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they don’t just support what they did, but that this is their movement too.”
“So once you hitch your wagon to a group like Hamas, that takes you out of the realm of normal activity, and that’s something that we’re going to take action against,” he added. “So we believe we’re totally justified within the law.”
Hardline pro-Israel DeSantis has declared that the United States should not take in refugees from Gaza, despite the fact that some of them may not be Hamas members and instead be “antisemitic.”
“I don’t know what Biden’s going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis told an audience of caucusgoers at an event this month in Creston, Iowa.
The right has been critical of Ramaswamy for his views on Israel even prior to Hamas’s devastating assault on the country. During the yearly Republican Jewish Coalition convention on Saturday in Las Vegas, where GOP candidates were courting donors, Ramaswamy started his speech by refuting these accusations and emphasizing that he is an ardent friend of Israel.
His comments follow his recent call on Congress to reject President Joe Biden’s aid package, which would have given more than $100 billion to Israel and Ukraine in the midst of their ongoing wars. He stated that aid to Israel should be “contingent” on the nation supplying specific goals for its military strategy.
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Mike has more than 30 years of experience in marketing and public relations. He once owned his own agency and has worked with some of the largest brands in the world.
