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Ron DeSantis: Adam Putnam was a politician in his 20s, I was serving in Iraq

DeSantis in his first direct attack on Putnam hits the agriculture commissioner as a career politician weak on immigration
U.S. Navy Lt. Ron DeSantis during a tour in Iraq. He was stationed in Fallujah. DeSantis is now a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserves. (Courtesy of the Ron DeSantis campaign)
U.S. Navy Lt. Ron DeSantis during a tour in Iraq. He was stationed in Fallujah. DeSantis is now a lieutenant commander in the Navy Reserves. (Courtesy of the Ron DeSantis campaign)
Published May 3, 2018|Updated May 3, 2018

The highly competitive Republican gubernatorial primary between Ron DeSantis and Adam Putnam so far has been relatively tame on the surface. The congressman and agriculture commissioner have mostly stuck to veiled swipes at each other, rarely uttering one another's name.

That changed today. On the syndicated radio show of staunch Donald Trump supporter John Fredericks, DeSantis did not hold back. DeSantis:

We are very different in our approach to illegal immigration. When he was in the Congress, he supported the McCain amnesty, he even supported the gang of eight Schumer-Obama amnesty when he was Ag Commissioner. He didn't even have to vote on it but he supported it. He opposed bringing troops, putting troops on our southern border. In Florida specifically I support mandatory e-verify because I think if you want to combat illegal immigration yo got to insist on us having a legal workforce He opposes mandatory e-verify and worked to kill it when it was in the state legislature several years ago . So it's a major difference our approach to that, I'm someone who stood for the rule of law, for strong border to make sure Americans come first when it comes to jobs and benefits. And he has not done that….

…He's been in office since he was 22 years old and has been a career politician. When He Was in his twenties he was in elective office, when I was in my twenties I was serving in Iraq, in Guantanamo Bay, and our military. So it's a much different approach.