DeSantis lays out plan to tackle the culture war, vows to leave woke ideology 'in the dustbin of history'

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Ron DeSantis: I'm running to lead a great American comeback

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis explains why he is running for president on 'Fox News Tonight.'

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis officially kicked off his 2024 bid for the White House, announcing his candidacy on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk and vowing to leave woke ideology in the "dustbin of history." 

DeSantis has repeatedly called Florida the place where "woke goes to die" and said as president, he would continue to take a firm stance in the culture war. 

"The woke mind virus is basically a form of cultural Marxism. At the end of the day, it's an attack on the truth. And because it's a war on truth, I think we have no choice but to wage a war on woke," he said Wednesday on "Fox News Tonight."

"So how does that work for a president? Some of it may be the bully pulpit-- being willing to tell the truth and not being deluded by ideology, which we see in many aspects of our society. There are probably ways, though, that you can make a difference. Certainly when you look at ESG and some of the things that's going on with major financial institutions in corporate America. We have every right to be pushing back on that."

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to Iowa voters (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

In education specifically, the GOP presidential candidate shared that since the federal government approves accreditors for universities, his role as president would be to look at whether they are trying to push an agenda. 

"I'll make sure we're approving accreditors that are going to do the opposite, that are going to say, you know… we're going to accredit you if you are a colorblind university– if you're not trying to divide people on the basis of race," he explained. "So there are different tools at your disposal. It's not the same as a governor. But I think you can have an impact across a wide variety of different areas."

DeSantis added he would "lean in against woke ideology and against the sexualization of children." 

"It's wrong what they're trying to do to these kids. We're not going to abide by it. And in Florida, we say we're the state where woke goes to die. You know, as president, I'm going to make sure woke ideology ends up in the dustbin of history," he told host Trey Gowdy. 

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The former congressman also addressed his public dispute with Disney after the Florida Senate dissolved the company’s special self-governing status in April 2022.  

Florida Gov. Ron Desantis, R, with Disney in the background (Fox News)

Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis last month, alleging he orchestrated a "targeted campaign of government retaliation" against the company that violates Disney's free speech rights. 

The legal complaint is an escalation of a fight between DeSantis and Disney that began last year when the company campaigned to overturn Florida's Parental Rights in Education law.

DESANTIS ADMINISTRATION EYES EXTENDING FLORIDA'S PARENTAL RIGHTS LAW TO GRADES K-12

"In Florida, we believe in the protection of children. We believe it's inappropriate to be jamming things like transgender ideology into elementary school classrooms. And we had a bill to protect parents and children from that in Florida. Disney opposed it-- they tried to tank it. They usually get whatever they want, throughout history in Florida, but with me as governor, that wasn't going to fly," DeSantis said. "We signed the bill and we protected our kids. But I think Disney has gone down the road of wanting to put sexualization into children's programming. So the company, I think, has lost its way in terms of the values that maybe they had when Walt established it or when it first started in Florida." 

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The Florida governor said Disney had a "cushy" arrangement for decades where the company was able to self-govern and was "exempt from laws that everyone else had to follow." 

"They got massive tax breaks and even racked up municipal debt. So what we said was, look, we're not comfortable having this company on a pedestal joined at the hip with the state of Florida. Our values have just gone in different directions. And so we ended their self-governing status. They now have to live under the same laws as everybody else, and they have to pay their fair share of taxes," he added. 

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DeSantis said he will "never waver" in the defense of families and children. As a father of three young kids, he said he wants to be able to send them to school so they can "just be kids without someone trying to shove an agenda down their throats." 

Fox News' Greg Norman contributed to this report