DeSantis’ suspected political move is ‘very welcomed’: Ken Cuccinelli

The governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis, cut ties with the friends of Ron DeSantis. That's a political action committee, a PAC. It's that cutting ties is a big step towards the governor announcing a run, a real run in 2024. Ken Cuccinelli joins me now. Ken, welcome back. Good to see you again. You founded the Never Back Down PAC, which is a group supporting DeSantis.

Why are you with DeSantis and not Trump? Well, I was proud to work for President Trump, the Department of Homeland Security. A lot of good policies there. But a lot of what the governor calls drama, there was a lot of stumbling about that we could have done much better. And of course, the president can only have four more years. Whereas Ron DeSantis has been the most successful chief executive we've seen in America in decades. He's helped raise the tides of all boats, both Floridians and politically. He helped his whole ticket in 2022.

While 2022 was a disappointing year for Republicans across the country, it was a red wave in Florida because of Governor Ron DeSantis' leadership. And it isn't enough to just win the presidency. You've got to hold the House and expand that majority and get the Senate. And where the president has three elections in a row been a negative for those running with him, Governor DeSantis has been a positive and has actively helped the rest of his team do better. And he's done all of that while defending a down the line list of conservative accomplishments that really are unmatched across America. And a lot of grassroots folks are very excited. So the news of this political move, as you noted and reported, is very welcome for us.

I'm going to change the subject and move to the border for a second. The president admits that the border will be, quote, chaotic once Title 42 is officially lifted. Just watch this brief sound bite rolling. We're doing all we can. The answer is it remains to be seen. We've gotten overwhelming cooperation from Mexico. We also are in the process of setting up offices in Colombia and other places where you can, or someone seeking asylum can go first.

So it remains to be seen. It's going to be chaotic for a while. Okay. Remains to be seen. Going to be chaotic for a while. Goodness me. Now, Ken, I've got to ask you about this.

The governor of Texas has a special tactical unit that he's sending to the border. Will that tactical unit be used to send people back, keep them out, or bring them in more efficiently? No, they'll be used to bring them in more efficiently. The governor uses the word repel, but he doesn't repel anyone. And he has constitutional authority when his state is being invaded like this under Article 1, Section 10 to actually stop people from coming into Texas. And if he caught them near the border to put them back into Mexico, but he refuses to do it. But he's run this Operation Lone Star for two years. Really cool sounding name, lots of photo ops for the governor.

But he isn't doing anything to slow the flow. And he has the authority to do it. And most of your media, virtually all of it, on Fox and elsewhere, has shown the flows, the worst flows, coming over the border into Texas. So if the governor of Texas would use his constitutional authority, even though the president won't, he could start to slow the tide over most of the border. And America really needs him to step up and do that. And he just comes up with one excuse after another not to do it. You would have those troops, that special tactical unit, push people away.

If you did that, there would be clashes at the border. And that's not something that most people want. Look, no, Stuart, all we're talking about is it would look in operation like state officials doing what federal officials have done under Title 42. This doesn't have to be violent, but it has to be firm and definite. And it has to be returning people back to Mexico so they know they can't get in. That's the ultimate measure of whether the flow will slow down or not. And Governor Abbott refuses to slow the flow.

Ken Cuccinelli, thank you very much for joining us this morning on a day of major crises, breaking all over the place. Thank you, Ken. See you later.

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