Ron DeSantis vows to give woke its marching orders

Ron DeSantis has promised ‘very big changes’ to the US military if he is elected president next year, saying that it has become too woke.

Ron DeSantis has no time for diversity in the military. Picture: AFP

Ron DeSantis has promised “very big changes” to the US military if he is elected president next year, saying that it has become too woke to deal with challenges posed by China.

The Florida Governor, who served in the US navy for 15 years, used a Memorial Day interview to promise that he would “rejuvenate” America’s armed forces “on day one” in the White House.

“I think the military that I see is different from the military I served in,” he told Fox News on Monday.

“I see a lot of emphasis now on political ideologies; things like gender pronouns. I see a lot about things like DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion programs], and I think that that’s caused recruiting to plummet.

“I think it’s driven off a lot of warriors and I think morale is low.

“So all those issues are important and we’ll be rolling out a really strong program to counter China because I think it is our No. 1 threat.”

Memorial Day is an annual holiday when Americans mourn US military personnel who have died in the course of their service. President Joe Biden, 80, took part in a service of remembrance at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

“Everyone knows that if I’m the nominee, I will beat Biden,” Mr DeSantis said.

“I will serve two terms and I will be able to destroy leftism in this country. I’ve shown in Florida an ability to win huge swaths of voters while also delivering the boldest agenda anywhere in the country.”

According to the polls, Mr DeSantis, 44, has a lot of ground to catch up. A survey of Republican supporters by Echelon Insights taken at the end of last week put Donald Trump 30 percentage points ahead of his rival.

Mr DeSantis, who served in Iraq, is seen as the former president’s biggest rival for the nomination. He has pitched himself on the right of the party and has described Florida under his leadership as the state where “woke goes to die”.

The Times