The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, made it clear that if he becomes president, his administration will not allow drugs to enter via the borders because he will use lethal force against the cartels that try.
In an interview with host Erick Erickson, the Republican nominee talked about how important it is for him to end the border crisis facing the country and curb drug trafficking.
“We are going to authorize the use of deadly force against the cartels,” DeSantis said, noting that his administration will not “take it anymore,” referring to people continuing to pump fentanyl into the country.
“If you have somebody coming in with the fentanyl in the backpack – they even break through the border wall, where there is wall – if they’re doing that, that’s the last thing they’re going to be able to do because we’re going to leave them stone cold dead at the border,” he warned.
The candidate recalled that “tens of thousands of people die from fentanyl overdoses” and insisted that this is because the border is not secure, so he clarified that this would be one of his government's priorities.
“We’ll build a wall, we’ll remain in Mexico, stop the invasion, we’ll do all that,” he said.
The Mexican drug cartels are killing tens of thousands of Americans every single year.
This cannot go on.
As President, I will build the wall, stop the invasion, and authorize use of force against drug smugglers breaking into our country.
Cartels who seek to harm Americans… pic.twitter.com/fjkwVZKPnR
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) August 18, 2023
This isn’t the first time DeSantis has discussed cracking down on smugglers. He recently mentioned his intention to use drones to take down drug cartels.
“If they’re invading our country and killing our people, we have the right to defend this country,” he said last week at an event in Iowa.
The governor has not only focused on cartels, but he has also insisted on taking stricter measures to prevent illegal migration, such as strengthening penalties for human trafficking and stopping funding for those non-governmental organizations that “encourage mass migration.” De Santis also proposes restricting visas from countries that do not agree to have their citizens deported.
