DeSantis rolls out military plan amid campaign struggles

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) presidential campaign unveiled his plan to revamp the country’s military on Tuesday, marking his second major policy rollout of the cycle. 

The plan, titled “Mission First,” features four pillars: “Ripping Political Agendas Out of Our Military;” “Restoring Military Standards;” “Breaking the Swamp and Promoting Accountability;” and “Turning the Tide Against Biden’s Military Recruitment Crisis.” 

The plan takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion administrators, as well as policies impacting transgender servicemembers. 

“It’s a military that has been ordered by civilian officials to pursue political ideology, to pursue social experimentation, to be yet another institution in American life that gets infected with the woke mind virus,” DeSantis said speaking at a campaign event in South Carolina. “This is changing the character of the military, it’s changing the culture of our services, and it’s creating a situation in which great warriors have been driven away and recruiting is at an all time low.” 

DeSantis is an Iraq War veteran, having served in the Navy. If elected president, he would be the first president since George H. W. Bush to have served in a combat zone. 

The announcement comes as his campaign appears to be in reset mode after his team confirmed last week they had laid off employees. In a change of media strategy, the governor is set to sit down with CNN’s Jake Tapper later on Tuesday. The interview will mark his first formal interview with a major news organization other than Fox News.