ANDERSON, S.C. (WSPA) — Florida Gov. Ron Desantis held a presidential campaign event at Anderson University Thursday.
The event focused on Desantis’ “Veterans for Desantis Movement,” in which he discussed how he plans to support veterans if elected to the White House.
“As President, I’m going to use the bully pulpit to let people know that serving in the military is a noble effort,” Desantis said. “It’s a noble calling. It’s a noble career.”
Desantis said he plans to reform Veterans Affairs, boost military recruitment and make it easier for veterans to access their benefits.
“We’re going to take a model that we did in Florida for social services, and we’re going to apply it to veterans benefits all throughout this country.”
“I think the most acute need now is to focus on reducing veteran suicide, helping with veterans mental health and substance abuse, and helping veterans who are homeless,” he added.
Shortly after taking the stage in Anderson, Desantis discussed the Israel-Hamas war.
“I just think it’s important that we say that here in the United States, we Americans stand with the state of Israel. They have a right to defend themselves. They have a right to ensure that Israeli citizens are not butchered by terrorists.”
He said, if elected as president, he would not allow refugees from the Gaza Strip into the U.S.
“I don’t want to import the pathologies of the Gaza Strip into the United States of America. We will do zero refugees from the Gaza Strip into the United States when I’m president.”
Desantis also touted his efforts to evacuate Americans from Israel.
“We did an executive order last week. We marshaled our emergency management resources. We said you know what, if you’re a Floridian that needs to get back or even if you’re an American who needs to get back, we’re sending planes to pick you up from Israel, and we are going to bring you back to the Untied States of America. We did a plane load of 271 people on Sunday night. We had another plane load in the wee hours of the morning this morning with another couple hundred, and we have more coming.”
