In New Hampshire, Ron DeSantis gave a wide-ranging, nearly four-minute answer when asked what makes him a better presidential bet than Nikki Haley.
In his response, he offered a defense of his record in the U.S. military and Congress, while offering withering criticisms of the United Nations, to which Haley was the American envoy under Donald Trump.
“I had an exposure to terrorism that was different than what any of these other folks have had,” DeSantis said, noting that he’s the only candidate in the race “that’s actually worn this country’s uniform” and that he’s “one of the few who had degrees from Yale and Harvard and volunteered to serve in the military during wartime.”
DeSantis added that he was on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a National Security Subcommittee Chairman. He also cited his “missions around the world” as Governor as an example of more relevant foreign policy experience, before turning his criticisms on the United Nations, which he deemed a “worthless organization.”
“All they do is sanction Israel. Like that’s really what it exists for,” DeSantis said.
“How does it really move the needle in any positive way? I think that their behavior has been a complete disgrace,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis also painted himself as a potential return to the “peace with strength” foreign policy rubric of the Ronald Reagan administration and a corrective to so-called “neo-conservative” views on foreign policy.
“I think our vision is really more consistent with the Reagan type foreign policy rather than the more modern neo-conservative kind of hyper-intervention policy,” he said, crediting himself also with “leadership and judgment” and having “actually been in the fire and actually had to make big, tough decisions and delivered when it counts.”
“They have not had to do that,” DeSantis said of his opponents, Haley and others.
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