Whoever the 2024 Republican presidential nominee ends up being will need to have the guts to be unapologetic when discussing the importance of preserving women’s sports for women only. They will also need to be willing to very loudly point to the larger issue of how allowing wokeness to prevail on the so-called “transgender rights” front without a fight will effectively erase women’s rights as we know them, and along with them the bright futures of little girls everywhere.

Though Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis hasn’t officially declared he’s in the running, all signs point to him soon doing just that. Whether or not he does, though, recent remarks he made on the Dylan Mulvaney controversy and the insanity of allowing transgender “woman” Lia Thomas to compete against female swimmers provide a spot-on blueprint for Republicans to work off of in the weeks and months ahead as these issues continue to play out in state legislatures, the U.S. Congress, courts, and election battles across the country.

Here’s what DeSantis said during an interview with Turning Point USA’s Benny Johnson. Key points are bolded by me:

Johnson: Asking about the greater issue of transgenderism. Dylan Mulvaney of course is what kicked all of this off. What do you think about men taking the role of women and taking really women’s places in advertising, and sports, playing against them? I mean it seems like an existential threat to women, as fathers of daughters.

DeSantis: [It’s a] total fraud. I mean you have a swimmer that competes on the men’s team for three years at Penn, and then switches to the women’s team and then wins the 500 yard freestyle – national championship for women? When you’re a mediocre male swimmer and now you win the women’s? And so, you had a second-place finisher – she was actually from Sarasota, she should have been the national champion. I did a proclamation from our office saying she was the best woman swimmer in 500 yard, because she was.

And so some of this is yes, it’s taking away opportunities in athletics and some other stuff, and that’s really really important. But I think there’s also just the issue of are we going to be a society based on truth or we gonna be a society based on deceit? And if you take a man and they dress up as a woman, and you tell me I have to accept that they’re a woman, then you’re asking me to be complicit in a lie, and I just refuse to do that.

So we’ve gotta tell the truth, I think that the truth will set you free, and let’s just be honest about what’s going on here.“

Watch:

“If you take a man and they dress up as a woman and you tell me I have to accept that they’re a woman, then you’re asking me to be complicit in a lie,” @RonDeSantisFL tells @bennyjohnson.

“I refuse to do that.”

pic.twitter.com/NAf59F7zDA

— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) April 18, 2023

DeSantis made similar points during a speech he gave in New Hampshire, diving further into the dangers of woke politics and how he refused to buy into it:

“Woke is a form of cultural Marxism. It seeks to divide us based on identity politics. It represents an attack on merit and achievement. It constitutes a war on reason and truth. Don’t tell me that babies are born racist. Don’t tell me that men can get pregnant. That is not true and I will not accept it.“

Watch:

More 🔥 from Ron DeSantis.

“Don’t tell me that men can get pregnant. That is not true.” pic.twitter.com/MDdUvpdndf

— Kyle Martinsen 🐊 (@KyleMartinsen_) April 18, 2023

There are some unequivocal truths in this world that will never change no matter how often the woke left likes to gaslight you on them. For example, radicals burning down entire city blocks in the name of “social justice” are not “peaceful protesters.” The same teenage mobs taking over major American city streets, breaking into stores, demolishing cars, and assaulting people are not merely innocent “youth who have otherwise been starved of opportunities in their own communities” who are “acting out of desperation.”

Similarly, and as DeSantis noted, children are not born racists. And a man who says he’s a woman and who then competes in and wins against women in their sporting events is still a man and still has all the strength and stamina of a man.

Some things need to be stated in no uncertain terms, and more leaders in this country, especially those seeking the presidency, need to be willing to stand up and do that without fear of being canceled by the Usual Suspects. Because if more don’t speak out now and reverse the tide, we’re soon going to reach a point where there is no turning back, and that is just not an option. Like at all.

The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of RedState.com.

Flashback –>> Chilling: Transgender Activist Lays Ground Rules for What ‘She’ Considers Allowable and Unallowable Speech