Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) acknowledged on Friday that he “had a lot of supporters who were averse to me” on the six-week abortion ban he signed into law earlier this year.
“As President, I will be somebody who will use the bully pulpit to support governors like [Iowa Gov.] Kim Reynolds when she’s got a bill, other states as they advance the cause of life. It is a critical issue, and it’s one I’m happy to have done,” DeSantis told former Fox New host Tucker Carlson during the Family Leadership Summit event in Iowa, referring to Reynolds’ recently signing a six-week abortion ban.
“And oh, by the way, this is an issue where I had a lot of supporters who were averse to me on this. Donors saying they didn’t want to support me if I stood for life. It’s been written about how I lost a lot of really big supporters,” he continued. “Some of them just aren’t pro-life. Some of them think it’s a political liability.”
“And at the end of the day, you get into office to be able to do what’s right, and you’ve got to stand on principle,” he added.
DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban into law in April, though the ban is currently blocked amid pending legal challenges. Florida currently bans abortions after 15 weeks.
Reynolds signed her a six-week ban over the medical procedure following her remarks at The Family Leadership Summit after the state legislature passed the ban earlier in the week during a special session.
The issue of abortion has become a tricky issue for Republican presidential candidates to navigate, and some candidates have tried to distance themselves from talking about federal restrictions around the medical procedure.
Asked if he would sign a six-week ban as president, DeSantis said he wanted to be a “pro-life president.”
“I’m very proud to say Kim Reynolds is here and she signed a great heartbeat bill today. We were able to do that in Florida. We had a lot of opposition to that. I’m proud to have been a pro-life governor, and I will be a pro-life president,” he explained. “So I mean, of course I want to sign pro-life legislation.”
“I think it’s something that we need to develop a culture of life in this country,” DeSantis added.
