DeSantis invokes nonexistent 'post-birth abortions' after failing to define 'wokeness'

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis interviewed with CNN's Jake Tapper Tuesday, July 18, in an attempt to downplay his struggling 2024 presidential campaign.

Tapper asked the governor questions pertaining to his consistent attack on "wokeness," as well as abortion, which DeSantis is so adamantly against.

The CNN host said, "The army did this survey, I'll give you a copy of it if you want — they haven't released it, but I got my hands on a copy — and it surveyed people, I think 16-28 barriers to service and beyond the ones such as, don't wanna die, don't wanna be injured, don't wanna be away from my family. The biggest issues, or the number 2 issue: women and racial or ethnic minorities are discriminated against in the army. Wokeness is listed here, but it's only number 9. So that would suggest that wokeness is not as big."

READ MORE: DeSantis says he’ll turn 'woke military' away from 'gender ideology'

DeSantis replied, "Well, but I think there's an issue about — Not everyone really knows what wokeness is. I've defined it, but a lot of people who rail against wokeness can't even define it. And so I think it's a sense of, you know, this is not something that's holding true to the core martial values that make the military unique."

Similarly, The New York Times reports:

On Tuesday morning, Mr. DeSantis discussed military policy in an airplane hangar outside Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, a state that is dependent on military bases and has a large veteran population.

His remarks were heavy on themes he has hit since he joined the race: 'diversity, equity and inclusion,' which he said he would end in the military, and what he called 'woke operating policies' like drag shows, which the Defense Department ended last month. He also talked about transgender issues, proposing to reinstate the Trump administration's ban on transgender sailors, soldiers and marines, and promising to end transition care for active-duty service members.

Tapper later pivoted to DeSantis' controversial 6-week abortion ban in Florida, saying, "Let's talk about some issues here in the United States. You've been asked about this by a number members of conservative media and you have yet to give a yes or no answer. You recently signed a 6-week abortion ban in Florida. Yes or no, would you support that as a nationwide ban?"

The GOP leader answered, "So, I said I'm pro-life, I will be a pro-life president, and we will support pro-life policies. At the same time, I look at what's going on in the Congress. And you know, I don't see them making very much headway. I think the danger from Congress is if we lose the election, they're gonna try to nationalize abortion up until the moment of birth, and in some liberal states, you actually have post-birth abortion, and I think that that's wrong. Also, with respect to the military thing that we talked about. We're going to reverse the abortion tourism policy in the Department of Defense. They're actually paying people to go and get abortions with American tax dollars as part of the military. You don't even get that time off for funerals. And so, we're gonna continue to stand for life and we're gonna make sure that everybody knows that."

READ MORE: Ron DeSantis vows to 'destroy leftism' and 'woke ideology' if elected president

Tapper later told CNN viewers, "So I asked the DeSantis campaign, what exactly the governor was referring to when he referred to post-birth abortion. They said it was a reference to when an infant survives an abortion procedure and life-saving medical care is not provided."

Watch the videos below or at this link.

READ MORE: 'Make him own this': Florida’s 'atrocious' abortion ban could derail DeSantis’ presidential hopes

The New York Times' full report is available at this link (subscription required).