RON DESANTIS DELIVERS STRONG PERFORMANCE IN TUCKER CARLSON INTERVIEW, THROWS SHADE AT NEWSOM:

Speaking of our porous southern border, DeSantis said he’d call a national emergency on day one and use all the forces at his command to stop the tsunami.

The two also spoke about the threat from China–“at the end of the day, what the CCP respects is hard power,” DeSantis said, adding that Joe Biden is projecting the opposite.

They also talked at length about COVID, energy, Russia, cocaine in the White House, digital currency, parents’ rights, Hunter’s laptop, the economy, and more.

But DeSantis didn’t leave without taking a shot at his cross-country rival, California Governor Gavin Newsom. Should President Biden somehow step out of the race, DeSantis is prepared:

I’m fully prepared to have a Florida-California showdown and let the people choose what’s the better vision for the United States of America, because I’m very confident that the freedom in Florida is what more people would choose rather than the public defecation on the streets of San Francisco. 

That cracked Tucker up.

To me, DeSantis seemed at ease, spoke knowledgeably about the issues, laughed frequently, and didn’t seem awkward at all. That is not an endorsement or an expression of any preference in the GOP presidential primaries, it’s just my opinion about his performance at this event.

Exit quote:

Killer answer, but especially on the necessity of preparation. "You can't wait two years to get your people in place," DeSantis says, if you want to fight the bureaucracy. That's absolutely right. https://t.co/eqtO3j59qR

— Ed Morrissey (@EdMorrissey) July 14, 2023