DeSantis urges action on China and TikTok, ‘critical interest’

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke with Piers Morgan on his foreign policy opinions relating to Russia, Ukraine, China and TikTok.

Specifically, the governor took a hard stance against the China-based social media company for “harvesting” Americans’ data.

“I would [ban it]. I think it’s a security risk, they are harvesting so much data on our citizens. There’s a whole bunch of other apps and stuff that are out there, and honestly Piers, I’ve got young kids. I don’t want our kids on some of this stuff,” he said.

“It’s not healthy for them. The TikTok in China is sanitized, it’s more wholesome. Here they’re putting in a lot of bad stuff too,” DeSantis said. “So, I think it’s had a corrosive impact but that in of itself wouldn’t be enough, what’s enough though is how they’re harvesting that to use against the American people.”

A bill is making its way through the Florida Legislature cracking down on TikTok.

The governor also took a hard stance on Taiwan possibly being taken by China, calling it a “critical interest” of the U.S.

“That would be aggression. Absolutely it would be aggression. Taiwan is a strong ally of the United States,” he said.

“I think that’s a critical interest, for us but also for our key allies like Japan and South Korea, and I think overall the number one issue that we face internationally is checking the growth and the rise of China.”

DeSantis commented on the Ukraine-Russia war, explaining his comments characterizing it as a “territorial dispute,” to which some falsely claimed the governor was downplaying the severeness of Putin’s actions.

“Well, I think it’s been mischaracterized. Obviously, Russia invaded — that was wrong. They invaded Crimea and took that in 2014 — That was wrong,” he said.

“So, that’s some difficult fighting and that’s what I was referring to and so it wasn’t that I thought Russia had a right to that, and so if I should have made that more clear, I could have done it, but I think the larger point is, okay, Russia is not showing the ability to take over Ukraine, to topple the government or certainly to threaten NATO,” DeSantis said. “That’s a good thing.”

“I just don’t think that’s a sufficient interest for us to escalate more involvement. I would not want to see American troops involved there. But the idea that I think somehow Russia was justified (in invading) – that’s nonsense,” he said.

Morgan said Ukraine would take issue with the “territorial dispute” comments.

“I think they have the right to that territory,” DeSantis said. “If I could snap my fingers, I’d give it back to Ukraine 100%.”

“But the reality is what is America’s involvement in terms of escalating with more weapons, and certainly ground troops I think would be a mistake,” he said. “So, that was the point I was trying to make but Russia was wrong to invade. They were wrong to take Crimea. Russia did not have the right to go into Crimea or to go in February of 2022 and that should be clear.”

DeSantis said the U.S. should “hit [Putin]” with energy independence.

“We could be permitting natural gas pipelines, doing a lot in Alaska. That’s where he gets all his power and obviously, he’s influenced Europe by having so much energy. So, the way to hit Putin is to hit him with energy, but I do think if you look back, all the defense analysts, and me in the past, we over-estimated his conventional capability,” the governor said.

“This has been a huge blunder for him. Huge cost and you know we’ll see what ends up happening with his longevity in power, but this has been a loss for them.”

On holding Putin “accountable” for war crimes, DeSantis pushed back on using the International Crime Court.

“This ICC … we have not done that in the US because we’re concerned about our soldiers or people being brought under it. So, I don’t know about that route, but I do think that he should be held accountable,” DeSantis said.