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DeSantis answers questions about RFK Jr. as running mate, vows to ‘sic him on the FDA’

July 27, 2023 | | Print Article

Florida Governor and Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis isn’t interested in making Democrat and fellow White House contender Robert F. Kennedy Jr. his running mate, but he does think the controversial candidate could prove useful if “he’d be willing to serve.”

“I’m aligned with him on Fauci and the corruption and the health bureaucracies 100%. And I think he’s probably done said some other things that I agree with, too,” DeSantis told OutKick’s Clay Travis. “But the end of the day, you know, he’s more liberal.”


(Video: YouTube)

He reminded viewers that Kennedy once said, “if you deny climate change, you should go to jail.”

“Conservative voters,” DeSantis said, “they would want those positions flushed out.”

The popular governor also noted that Kennedy disagreed with the Supreme Court’s recent ruling to prohibit affirmative action from college admission considerations.


“So I just think, at the end of the day,” DeSantis said, “you need somebody that’s going to reflect the values of the broad coalition.”

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“There’s a whole host of other things that he’d probably be out of step with,” he explained, “So, on that regard, it’s like, okay, if you’re president, sic him on the FDA, if he’d be willing to serve, or sic him on CDC.”

“But in terms of being Veep,” he continued, “if there’s, you know, 70 percent of the issues that he may be adverse to our base on, that just creates an issue.”

On X — the social media platform formerly known as “Twitter” — critics of DeSantis seized upon the opportunity to slam both the governor and the “kook” Democrat who is challenging President Biden. RFK Jr. is gaining in popularity among Independent voters and even some Republicans who appreciate his bold stands on the COVID-19 vaccine and free speech.

The National Review‘s Charles C.W. Cooke, who blasted DeSantis for his handling of the pandemic, called the mere mention of RFK Jr. “insanity.”

“It’s flat-out insanity for DeSantis to mention RFK Jr. within the same sentence as the FDA or CDC, let alone as a potential appointee to do anything related to medicine,” Cooke wrote. “RFK Jr.’s a kook who’d improve nothing. (The full answer’s even worse than this clip.).”

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National Review editor Philip Klein echoed his colleague’s sentiment.

“Embarrassingly bad answer from DeSantis,” he stated.


“He was already utterly disqualified every conceivable respect, but this is the icing on the crazy cake,” said the Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson.

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But not everyone thought it was such a crazy idea.

“Very good point,” said Blaze Senior Editor Daniel Horowitz. “Medical freedom might be my top issue but too many people thrown themselves at people because they are good on an issue and forget the broader picture. DeSantis proposes utilizes RFK where he would be best.”

“My man!” exclaimed Blaze host Steve Deace.

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Still, most saw the remarks as a political misstep by the Florida governor.

“Ron DeSantis continues to try and out-Trump Trump by appealing to the worst elements of the Republican base,” stated one X user. “Not only will this very calculated stupidity get him killed in a general election, it won’t even work to persuade Trump voters to his side for the primary.”

Melissa Fine
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