WATCH: Ron DeSantis calls critical race theory 'a bunch of horse manure'

Speaking to Fox News' Laura Ingraham during a GOP governor's townhall, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis referred to the concept of critical race theory and systemic racism as "a bunch of horse manure."

Ingraham asked what his take was on "this proposition that we are a systemically racist country."

"Well it's a bunch of horse manure," De Santis said, "I mean, give me a break. This country has had more opportunity for more people than any country in the history of the world and it doesn't matter where you trace your ancestry from. We've had people who have been able to succeed and all.

"And here's the problem with things like critical race theory that they're peddling. They're basically saying that all our institutions are bankrupt, and they're illegitimate, okay so how do you have a society if everything in your society is illegitimate.

"So it's a very harmful ideology and I would say really a race-based version of a Marxist-type ideology. So we've banned it in our schools here in Florida, and we're not going to put any tax dollars to critical race theory. And we want to treat people as individuals and not as members of groups."