PANAMA CITY, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Monday that he was standing against the use of central bank digital currency because it threatens Floridians’ autonomy.
During a visit to the Gulf Coast State College in Panama City, DeSantis said the supporters of the digital currency want to push “political ideology” and he called on the state’s legislature to “expressly forbid” its use.
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“I think it’s really important that states stand up to fight back against some of the things that are going, well most of the things that are going on right now in Washington, because they don’t have your best interest at heart,” DeSantis said. “They have their own power at heart.”
Late last year, The Federal Reserve announced the board of governors had made no decisions on whether to pursue or implement a central bank digital currency, or CBDC, while exploring its potential benefits and risks.
DeSantis said President Joe Biden’s administration did an “executive study” on the issue. He also said he is concerned about the possibility of non-elected officials supporting CBDC.
“I think if enough states come up and say no, I think it’s going to be really difficult,” DeSantis said.
John Rothell, of the League of Southeastern Credit Unions, spoke after DeSantis. He said CBDC would weaken community credit unions’ ability to issue loans and lines of credit.
DESANTIS ON TRUMP
While former President Donald Trump faces the possibility of criminal charges in New York over hush money paid during his 2016 campaign, DeSantis said he didn’t know if Florida law enforcement would play a role if there was an indictment.
“I don’t know what goes into paying hush money to a porn star to secure silence over some type of alleged affair,” DeSantis said. “I can’t speak to that.”
DeSantis did question the legitimacy of an indictment if there was one. By investigating Trump, DeSantis said Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, had “weaponized” his role at the expense of public safety.
“He has downgraded over 50% of the felonies to misdemeanors. He says he doesn’t want to even have jail time for the vast, vast majority of crimes, and what we have seen in Manhattan is we’ve seen the crime rate go up and we’ve seen citizens become less safe,” DeSantis said.
DeSantis cited reports that Bragg had received more than $1 million from a political action committee that received funding from George Soros, a billionaire Democratic donor.
“We do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York,” Bragg wrote in a memo Saturday defending himself against the allegations first made by Trump, according to the Associated Press.
Facebook Live: DeSantis answers reporters’ questions