Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, on Sunday defended his call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from state colleges as Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas' attack on Oct. 7.
In an exclusive interview on “Meet the Press,” NBC News' Kristen Welker asked DeSantis to respond to Vivek Ramaswamy, one of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, who insisted that such a move would violate the First Amendment rights of the students. Ramaswamy, who trails DeSantis in polls, tweeted: "It’s a shameful political ploy. ... It’s unconstitutional. It’s utter hypocrisy for someone who railed against left-wing cancel culture.”
DeSantis pushed back on Ramaswamy’s comments: “This is not cancel culture.”
“This group, they themselves said in the aftermath of the Hamas attack that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they are part of this Hamas movement,” he said. “And so, yeah, you have a right to go out and demonstrate, but you can’t provide material support to terrorism.”
DeSantis accused pro-Palestinian groups on campuses of having “linked themselves to Hamas.”
“And so we absolutely decertified them. They should not get one red cent of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “And we also have strong laws in Florida against fundraising for groups like Hamas, and we are enforcing those vigorously. It’s not a First Amendment issue. That’s a material support to terrorism issue.”
As of Sunday morning, more than 8,000 people, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the escalation began, according to Palestinian health officials. In Israel, about 1,400 people have died.
The war between Israel and the militant group Hamas has reignited debate in colleges and universities throughout the country, prompting protests and demonstrations on several campuses.
DeSantis last week ordered two state universities to deactivate chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine, as they had purportedly violated state laws prohibiting antisemitism, according to the governor’s office.
Welker also asked DeSantis to clarify that he is “citing the Florida law that says ‘one cannot give material aid or resources to a terrorist organization.’”
“Do you have any support that they’re actually doing that?” Welker asked, referring to pro-Palestinian groups in state colleges.
DeSantis replied: “Their own words are saying they’re part of this organization, that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they don’t just support what they did, but that this is their movement too.”
“So once you hitch your wagon to a group like Hamas, that takes you out of the realm of normal activity, and that’s something that we’re going to take action against,” he added. “So we believe we’re totally justified within the law.”
DeSantis has taken a hard-line pro-Israel stance, saying that the U.S. should not accept refugees from Gaza, claiming they're not all affiliated with Hamas but they are all "antisemitic."
“I don’t know what Biden’s going to do, but we cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees,” DeSantis told an audience of caucusgoers at an event this month in Creston, Iowa.
Ramaswamy has come under fire from the right for his stance on Israel, even before Hamas launched its deadly attack on Israel. On Saturday, as GOP contenders courted donors in Las Vegas at the annual Republican Jewish Coalition conference, Ramaswamy began his speech by pushing back against those criticisms and clarifying that he is a full-throated supporter of Israel.
His remarks came after he recently called on lawmakers to reject the aid package proposed by President Joe Biden to provide more than $100 billion for Israel and Ukraine amid their ongoing wars, saying that aid to Israel should be “contingent” on the country providing clear objectives for its military strategy.
