Gov. Ron DeSantis said last week that he believes several if not most of today’s societal problems can be traced back to a historic level of fatherlessness.

In an interview with the First Class Fatherhood podcast, the Sunshine State Republican called on fathers to help their kids simply by being “interested” in them, “present” as they grow up, and do so by “setting a good example.”

“If you had every kid in America had a loving father in the home, we would have far, far fewer problems that we would have to deal with as a society,” DeSantis said.

“I do think there are a lot of problems, but if you could just snap your finger and do one thing, and you did this where the fathers were in the home, you would not even need to worry about a lot of these other problems,” the governor continued.

The Daily Wire noted further:

According to data compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau, over 18 million children (one in four children) in the United States do not have a father in their home. DeSantis, whose administration has drawn on these statistics in the past, urged fathers to be present and to spend as much time as possible with their children.

“When my daughter was born, I was a member of Congress at the time up in Washington,” he told the podcast. “So I’m looking at myself, I’m sitting up in my office in D.C., wondering, ‘Why the hell am I up here? I really want to be back down.’”

As governor, he went on to share that he has much more on his plate than he ever did while serving in Congress, but he nevertheless still finds his current job much more “family-friendly.”

“I can go out and do stuff all day and be home for dinner,” he explained. “Even if I get home late, I see them in the morning. And so part of the reason why I ended up running for governor is because I had two young kids at home, and so if I’m going to do public service I wanted to make sure I can do it in a way that is family-friendly.”

“I try to get back for dinner, try to get back to put them to bed, get them up in the morning, and of course doing as many activities with them as possible,” the governor said, describing how he tries to involve his children in his role as governor.

“I brought my son to a multi-city stop one day. We did a bunch of press conferences. The last press conference, he fell asleep on the floor during the press conference, so I had to grab him and take him out,” he added with a smile. “We do make an effort to involve them and let them be able to see what is really a great state to live in.”

The GOP governor’s remarks come on the heels of legislation he signed in April aimed at supporting fathers and their children by linking boys with mentorship programs and adult men with career services.

That legislation is “tied to nearly $70 million in funding to provide a wide spectrum of family and youth support through the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and the Department of Children and Families (DCF),” the governor’s office said in a press release.