DeSantis urges Florida lawmakers to ban cousin marriages, links practice to 'stealth jihad'

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. ©2026 FOX News Network, LLC. All rights reserved. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke about the need to ban marriages between first cousins during a bill signing ceremony on April 7, 2026, linking the practice to what he called "stealth jihad." (Credit: WTVT) 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 barre