Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for Americans to “put on the armor of God” and promised to wage a war on “woke” ideology in schools, government and corporate boardrooms during a speech to a gathering of conservatives in Washington.

“We are going to leave woke ideology in the dust bin of history — where it belongs,” DeSantis, who is running a distant second to former President Donald Trump in polls of Republican presidential primary contenders, told attendees of the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual policy conference on Friday.

DeSantis stressed his efforts to defend religious freedom as governor, including by keeping churches open during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We’re proud we’ve been able to and will continue to stand for religious liberty,” he said, adding, “This is a time to proudly put on the full armor of God.”

DeSantis’s speech — which followed remarks from several other GOP presidential candidates — was greeted with enthusiastic cheers and more than one standing ovation from a pro-Trump crowd that met some other candidates with tepid applause or jeers.

Still, the Florida governor faces an uphill battle to wrest Trump’s grip on the party, and much will hinge on his performance in early nominating states. Appearances at events like the Faith and Freedom summit give him a chance to make in-roads with the party base — whose support he will need if he’s going to emerge as a viable alternative to Trump — and could help quell questions as to whether he’s comfortable schmoozing with voters face-to-face.

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Support for DeSantis among voters nationwide rose 5 percentage points from April, while backing for Trump — who was indicted this month on federal charges related to his handling of secret documents — fell 3 percentage points, according to an Emerson College poll released Thursday.

Yet DeSantis trails Trump by 31 points nationally in the RealClearPolitics average of early polls.

Wooing the Base

DeSantis has aligned himself with the far right flank of the party on cultural matters — namely abortion, LGBTQ rights, and how public schools teach about race and gender — and he’s embroiled in a high-profile fight with Walt Disney Co.

In a video introduction to his remarks Friday, DeSantis touted his record on those issues — as well as his efforts to stand up for parental rights and to take on “woke corporations.”

DeSantis, who rarely discuses abortion on the stump, only briefly touched on the subject Friday, saying his decision to sign legislation banning abortion after six weeks was “the right thing to do.”

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“The left is lighting the fire of a cultural revolution, all across this land,” he said. “The fire smolders in our schools. It smolders in corporate boardrooms, it smolders in the halls of government.

“We did not start this fire, but as president of the United States I will lead the effort to extinguish the fire of cultural Marxism once and for all, all across this country,” he added.

Riffing on Roe

Unlike DeSantis, other 2024 contenders anchored their message around the one-year anniversary of the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which guaranteed nationwide abortion rights.

Former Vice President Mike Pence implored all candidates to support a ban on abortions after a pregnancy reaches 15 weeks. Asa Hutchinson, the former governor of Arkansas, said he would continue to ensure that taxpayer funds are not used to support abortions.