- Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign speech in Iowa sounded suspiciously like Winston Churchill’s.
- The syntax of his speech was similar to that of Churchill’s iconic World War II speech.
- DeSantis has previously come under fire for copying Donald Trump’s campaign slogan.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis channeled former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill while campaigning in Iowa even this weekend, invoking Churchill’s famous World War II speech to tout his own stance on the “woke” ideology.
DeSantis said in his Saturday speech, “I recognize that the woke-mind virus represents a war on truth, so we’re going to fight a war on revival. We’ll fight the woke in education, we’ll fight the woke in business, we will fight the revival in the halls of Congress.”
—Acyn (@Acyn) June 3, 2023
The syntax of the sentence was reminiscent of Churchill’s iconic speech in 1940, when he addressed the British House of Commons to boost British morale after the evacuation of British troops from Dunkirk.
Churchill said in his speech: “We will go all the way, we will fight in France, we will fight on the seas and oceans, we will fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we will defend our island , whatever the price may be, we will fight on the beaches, we will fight on the landing grounds, we will fight in the fields and in the streets, we will fight in the hills; we will never surrender.”
The Iowa speech drew criticism from DeSantis critics, who argued that the governor’s political stance is a far cry from Churchill’s.
Richard Stengel, former Under Secretary of State in the administration of Barack Obama, tweeted“Churchill was fighting Nazism, an enemy bent on world domination, while DeSantis was fighting, well, empathy and compassion. It’s not the same thing.”
—Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) June 2, 2023
DeSantis channeling Churchill comes just days after former President Donald Trump accused the governor of copying his campaign message, “Great American Comeback,” from his 2020 State of the Union Address.
DeSantis used this phrase when he announced his presidential candidacy on Twitter Spaces on May 24, where he said: “I’m Ron DeSantis, and I’m running to lead the Great American Comeback.” It was also the title of his first official campaign video on Twitter.
However, Trump himself invoked the same speech from Churchill. In July 2021, Trump sent a raging email to his followers about his lawsuits against tech companies like Facebook and Twitter. He understood the line: “We will fight in the courts, we will fight in the legislatures and we will fight at the ballot box.”
Representatives for DeSantis did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment sent outside of normal business hours.
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