DeSantis urges Florida lawmakers to ban cousin marriages, links practice to 'stealth jihad'
Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken pride in making Florida a leader among red states, but he acknowledged Monday that it was behind in banning cousin marriages, which he is hoping...
By Fox News · Fox News
Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken pride in making Florida a leader among red states, but he acknowledged Monday that it was behind in banning cousin marriages, which he is hoping will be outlawed in the near future. "Florida doesn’t ban cousin marriage: That’s a hanging curveball for us to do; we need to do that," DeSantis, famously a fan of baseball, said at a Tampa signing ceremony on another new law empowering state officials to designate groups as terrorist organizations and expel students who support them. DeSantis urged state lawmakers to ban marriage between first cousins, reopening debate over a practice that remains legal in Florida but is barred in most states. "Other states have done it," DeSantis continued. "I don’t know why we wouldn’t, but obviously that feeds into some of the stealth jihad that we see, when you’re allowing things like that. It’s things that are coming in from other cultures that are not consistent with the United States culture, and certainly our culture here in Florida ." GOP GOVERNOR LAYS OUT PLAN TO ‘PURGE’ TERRORISTS AND TERROR SUPPORTERS FROM STATE Florida already bans marriages involving close relatives such as siblings, parents, grandparents, nieces and nephews, but first cousins are not on the prohibited list. The governor’s push follows the failure of HB 733, a 2025 proposal that would have added first cousins to the ban starting July 1. Supporters of such a measure cite public health concerns tied to a higher risk of genetic disorders, while critics argue the issue falls under personal freedom and private family decisions. REPUBLICAN SAYS ‘MUSLIMS DON’T BELONG IN AMERICAN SOCIETY,’ DRAWS FIERCE DEMOCRATIC BACKLASH DeSantis teased future action on a cousin marriage ban last month. "For some reason the ban on cousin marriages was dropped during the legislative process," DeSantis wrote on X. "Stay tuned." FLORIDA DESIGNATES MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD AND CAIR AS FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, DESANTIS SAYS This is DeSantis' last legislati…