Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis assured drivers in his state that they have the right to hit protesters if they're trying to get to safety, saying Floridians have a right to defend themselves.
DeSantis made the comments in an interview with "The Rubin Report" on Wednesday. DeSantis and podcaster Dave Rubin were discussing the riots in Los Angeles and the prospect of protests cropping up in Florida.
"And we also have a policy that if you're driving on one of those streets and a mob comes and surrounds your vehicle and threatens you, you have a right to flee for your safety. And so if you drive off and you hit one of these people, that's their fault for impinging on you.
"You don't have to sit there and just be a sitting duck and let the mob grab you out of your car and drag you through the streets. You have a right to defend yourself in Florida," DeSantis said.
DeSantis has used the Los Angeles riots and the response to them by California Gov. Gavin Newsom and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass to illustrate the differences between the states. DeSantis offered to send the Florida State Guard to help California, an offer that was declined.
Protests of Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrests on Saturday gave way to rioting in Los Angeles, which DeSantis said "isn't going to fly in Florida."
"This is not Los Angeles. This is the free state of Florida. So we respect the law, we respect the people that are executing the law," he said in a Cabinet meeting Tuesday.
As for "No Kings" protests against President Donald Trump's policies that are expected across the country this weekend, DeSantis told Rubin he has "state resources on alert."
"We'll see what they do in Florida," he said. "People can always choose to do the wrong thing, even in Florida. The difference is in Florida, you ain't just getting a slap on the wrist like they do in Portland [Oregon], and you go right back on the street. You're going to end up in the inside of a jail cell, and you will be held accountable."
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.