Ron DeSantis defends banning pro-Palestinian groups from Florida colleges: ‘Not cancel culture’Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, on Sunday defended his call to ban pro-Palestinian groups from state colleges as Israel expands its ground offensive in Gaza following Hamas' attack on Oct. 7.
In an exclusive interview on “Meet the Press,” NBC News' Kristen Welker asked DeSantis to respond to Vivek Ramaswamy, one of his rivals for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, who insisted that such a move would violate the First Amendment rights of the students. Ramaswamy, who trails DeSantis in polls, tweeted: "It’s a shameful political ploy. ... It’s unconstitutional. It’s utter hypocrisy for someone who railed against left-wing cancel culture.”
DeSantis pushed back on Ramaswamy’s comments: “This is not cancel culture.”
“This group, they themselves said in the aftermath of the Hamas attack that they don’t just stand in solidarity, that they are part of this Hamas movement,” he said. “And so, yeah, you have a right to go out and demonstrate, but you can’t provide material support to terrorism.”
DeSantis accused pro-Palestinian groups on campuses of having “linked themselves to Hamas.”
“And so we absolutely decertified them. They should not get one red cent of taxpayer dollars,” he said. “And we also have strong laws in Florida against fundraising for groups like Hamas, and we are enforcing those vigorously. It’s not a First Amendment issue. That’s a material support to terrorism issue.”
As of Sunday morning, more than 8,000 people, including women and children, have been killed in Gaza since the escalation began, according to Palestinian health officials. In Israel, about 1,400 people have died.....................
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-election/ron-desantis-defends-banning-palestinian-groups-florida-colleges-not-c-rcna122663