DeSantis vows to ‘start slitting throats on day one’

Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Scott Brown is a former senator from Massachusetts.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) on Sunday said he would “start slitting throats on day one” when it comes to taking on the “deep state.”

DeSantis made the remarks at a barbecue campaign event in Rye, N.H., hosted by former Sen. Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

“We’re going to have all of these deep state people, you know, we are going to start slitting throats on day one,” DeSantis said.

This is not the first time the Florida governor has used the terminology. Last month, during an interview with the right-leaning outlet Real America’s Voice, DeSantis used the expression when talking about how he would change the hierarchy in the Department of Defense if elected. 

“I think the idea that you take a flag [officer] or general officer who recently retired and put them as [secretary of Defense], I think it is a mistake,” the governor said. 

“You know, they may have to slit some throats. And it’s a lot harder to do that if these are people that you’ve trained with in the past or that you know,” DeSantis said. “So we’re going to have somebody out there, you know, be very firm, very strong, but they are going to make sure that we have the best people in the best positions, and there’s not going to be necessarily prior relationships that would cloud that judgment.”

DeSantis has been hitting the campaign trail amid his campaign’s reset.

On Monday, the Florida governor rolled out his “Declaration of Economic Independence” plan in New Hampshire. He is set to head back to Iowa on Friday where he will take part in the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down bus tour.