DeSantis delivers remarks on parental rights, plans for presidency with Moms for Liberty

PHILADELPHIA (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed parental rights, education, inappropriate books in schools and some of his 2024 presidential plans during a conference with Moms for Liberty Friday.

“2024 is the time to put up or shut up. No more excuses about why we can’t win against the left,” DeSantis said.

“No more excuses about why you didn’t do what you said you would do. The time to act is now and I believe if we do it right, 2024 is gonna be the year when the parents across this country finally fight back.”

Co-founder of Moms for Liberty Tiffany Justice brought up parental rights in education and said the fundamental right as a parent to direct the upbringing of their children has “come into question.” She asked DeSantis what he would do as president to help protect “our fundamental rights as Americans.”

DeSantis said that in Florida, his administration has done “more than promised” when it comes to the protection of parental rights.

“That’s the mindset you got to have. But you got to have that discipline, you got to have that focus, and you got to be relentless, to be able to bring all this in for a landing,” DeSantis said.

A new Florida law bans sex reassignment surgeries and medications for minors. DeSantis signed the bill in May, which prohibited medications, cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers, which some doctors have used to treat gender dysphoria.

“And it’s sad that we even have to say this, but we have done, not just through our Board of Medicine, but even now through statute, we have prohibited puberty blockers and operations on gender for minors. It’s mutilation, it’s wrong and it has no place in our society. And we need to step up and say this and take action,” Desantis said at the conference.

Under a new Florida law, challenged books are required to be removed from circulation until a decision is made on whether they are appropriate for grade levels.

DeSantis responded to claims that his administration is “banning books” in March by releasing a video showing graphic content found in school library books.

The video included pictures from books that were found in schools that contained sexual imagery. It also listed out the schools that some of the books were located in.

On the subject of sexual books in schools, Justice asked DeSantis “where do we go from here?”

“We just want education, right? If you’re trying to impose an agenda, we are going to reject the book. So give it to us straight.”

DeSantis said educating the public on what is going on is “important” and to “be prepared” because he is “going to be doing that across this country.”

DeSantis said because there is such a big population, a lot of companies that provide books to schools “have made changes that then make the book a normal school book.”

“But this is going in all directions. And if you don’t have kind of a united front against it, it is absolutely going to end up winning the day very, very insidious,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said when “woke ideology overtakes” education, students “become dumber,” and when it “overtakes” the criminal justice system, citizens “become less safe.” He said it’s an important fight.

“As President, I will fight the woke in the corporations. I will fight the woke in the schools. I will fight the woke in the halls of Congress, we will never ever surrender to the woke mob. We are going to leave woke ideology in the dustbin of history where it belongs,” DeSantis said.