Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said in an interview this week that if he is elected as the next President of the United States, he will direct the military to shoot cartel operatives trying to break through the border wall on the southern border.

DeSantis’ comments, which were given during an interview with CBS News host Norah O’Donnell on “CBS Evening News,” come after he said at the first Republican Party presidential primary debate that he would send U.S. special forces into Mexico to kill off the cartels.

“We are going to lean in and we are going to defend our country,” DeSantis said during the interview as he recalled seeing engineers having to repair sections of the border wall in Arizona where the cartels had cut through sections of the steel beams.

DeSantis said that in situations where cartel operatives are observed trying to destroy sections of the border wall, the military will be authorized to use deadly force to stop it.

DeSantis said that protocols would have to be established to determine rules of engagement for when the military can exercise force.

“If there’s a woman with a baby, they’re not a cartel member, there’s not going to be authorization to just shoot somebody like that,” DeSantis said. “But when somebody’s got a backpack on and they’re in there breaking through the wall, you know, that’s hostile intent, and you have every right to take action under those circumstances.”

DeSantis said that it would likely only take a couple of instances of that happening before the cartels are forced to change tactics.

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The Florida governor said that the specific tactics the military would use inside of Mexico to go after the cartels “can be debated” and would likely require flexibility in how assets are deployed.

“The reality is, they are overrunning our border, they’re sex trafficking, they’re human trafficking and they’re bringing in massive quantities of drugs,” he said. “I mean, our country is being invaded and hurt by what they’re doing. And the question is, do we just throw up our hands? And do we say there’s nothing we can do about it? Or does the leader take action? Because I’ll tell you this, I’m going to have the military at the border, 100%. I mean, if they’re trying to break through the wall, we will have deadly force authorized to be able to stop that.”

WATCH:

Ron DeSantis is going after drug cartels hard. If only we had a president who wasn’t content with a porous border making cartels wealthy. pic.twitter.com/MlwokRIQ2j

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) September 13, 2023

Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference, backed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) decision to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, saying that the corruption surrounding the Biden family needed to be “untangle[d].”

Punchbowl News reported that Barrasso was the only Republican in leadership who backed McCarthy’s efforts, telling the publication that it was important for the House to “untangle this web of corruption that we’ve seen coming out of this administration and specifically the Biden family.”

Barrasso told the publication that he has invited House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-KY) — who will oversee the impeachment inquiry — to the weekly Steering Committee meeting on Wednesday to update senators on the effort.

McCarthy’s announcement comes as 80% of Republican voters say that they support Congress impeaching Biden, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD) distanced himself from the impeachment inquiry, saying that the Senate needed to focus on “keeping the trains running.” Thune indicated that he does not believe that conducting an impeachment trial during the middle of the Senate trying to pass government funding for the upcoming fiscal year would be a fruitful endeavor.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who previously said impeaching Biden would “not be good for the country,” declined to weigh in much on the matter on Tuesday, only saying that McCarthy did not need his advice.

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a member of the Senate GOP leadership team, said, “Rather than doing something they know is unlikely to end the way they would like, maybe they want to emphasize other things.”

In a letter to Republican members, McCarthy said that the House’s investigation so far has “found that President Biden lied to the American people about knowledge of his family’s foreign business dealings.”

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McCarthy continued:

Eyewitness testimony revealed that the President joined multiple phone calls and had various interactions with his son’s business partners. For example, Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s business partner, testified that Joe Biden spoke or met with Hunter Biden’s business associates around 20 times, and that after meeting with President Biden, foreign nationals sent Hunter Biden millions of dollars, and bought him a Porsche.

Bank records show that nearly $20 million in payments were directed to Biden family members and associates through numerous shell companies. The Treasury Department has more than 150 transactions involving the Biden family and their business associates that were flagged as “suspicious activity” by U.S. banks.

A trusted FBI informant provided information about alleged bribes to the Biden family.

There is also evidence that Biden used his official office to coordinate with Hunter Biden’s business partner about Hunter’s role in Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

Finally, despite these serious allegations, it appears that the President’s family has been afforded special treatment by Biden’s own administration – treatment they would not otherwise have received if they were not related to the President. For example, in July, there was the sweetheart plea deal that President Biden’s Department of Justice tried to sneak past the public. Had a federal judge not rejected the deal, it would have gone through unnoticed.

Related: Senator Barrasso Introduces ARROW Act To Stop Biden’s Attacks On School Hunting, Archery Programs