HH: Note to the audience, I did a couple hours last night getting ready for this, and that, the tort reform didn’t come up in the news. I didn’t know you did tort reform. I’ve got like 10 different stories here, but tort reform doesn’t interest anyone except the people it cripples when they’re in a bad lawsuit, and so well done. Let’s go to the voucher expansion-school choice. Florida began the school choice movement under Governor Bush. And now, you’ve reached the tipping point. You went all the way. Tell people what you did.

RD: So when I first became governor, we expanded our tax credit scholarship and created family empowerment scholarships. And so that was basically public money going to parents directly, not just a corporate tax credit. So we’ve built on that every year. It’s been very successful. But then what we said this year is you know what? The money should follow the student. And so it doesn’t matter where you come from, because we had been focusing on low income families, as you should. I mean, the single moms who were able to get into a better school for their kid is a big deal. But at the same time, we understood that this is something that should empower parents across the board. And we’ve got a lot of middle income families, Hugh, in places like Miami and these places where the cost of living is higher. You could make $100,000 dollars, and you may not be able to afford private school. So now, it’s universal, and it’s what we call an education savings account. So instead of a scholarship, you’re going to have an account, and then you direct where the money goes. So yes, a lot of that money will go to tuition if they choose to go to a private school, but it could also go to tutoring. It could also go to other type of education services, depending on the needs of the child. So this is the biggest expansion of school choice in the history of Florida, and really, in the history of the United States. And I think the verdict on this is in. We were just ranked yesterday, it came out in U.S. News and World Report, number one for K-12 education. When you saw the 2022 NAEP results, the nation’s report card, we were third and fourth, respectively, in 4th grade reading and 4th grade math. So what that is telling me, and what it should tell other people is the fact that parents are empowered to make decisions, not just at their local school, they can go to a charter school, they can go to a private school. That has actually caused all the schools to have to compete for students. And our school districts are much improved today prior than when we had school choice.

[DeSantis has finished his platform for the 2024 presidential campaign. This interview covers his program for arguing that he can Make America Florida Again. I’d expect an announcement of his campaign in the next week. — Ed]