DeSantis touts Florida in 1st public 2024 message to SC GOP voters
In Ron DeSantis’ first public 2024 test in front of South Carolina Republican voters, the Florida governor on Wednesday spent most of his remarks touting his own state and its response, or blueprint, to combat what he called “toxic ideologies.”
“From the free state of Florida,” DeSantis urged an Upstate crowd to to “wage war on woke,” while showcasing his “Florida Blueprint” as the model best suited to fight against a leftist “ideological agenda.”
“We have eliminated toxic ideologies like critical race theory in our K-12 schools,” DeSantis told a crowd at the First Baptist North Spartanburg. “We’re not teaching kids to hate our country or to hate each other with your tax dollars. Not on my watch.”
He also railed against the COVID-19 pandemic as a “Faucian dystopia,” saying Florida led the way in embracing freedom.
“When COVID arrived on the scene, when the world went mad, when common sense suddenly became an uncommon virtue, it was Florida that stood as a refuge of sanity in a citadel of freedom,” DeSantis said.
A crowd of about 1,000 people lined up early to hear DeSantis speak in Spartanburg, the last of a three-stop South Carolina visit ahead of a much anticipated 2024 presidential bid. Those who could not get inside the room where DeSantis spoke piled into an overflow room. Earlier Wednesday, DeSantis and his wife, Casey, held a similar yet smaller rally in North Charleston and then held a closed press Republican event in Summerville.
DeSantis, introduced by state Sen. Josh Kimbrell, R-Spartanburg, on Wednesday spoke on a range of issues from “wokeism” to inflation, education and immigration.
Casually dressed in blue jeans and a sport jacket, DeSantis spoke for about 30 minutes before sitting down with his wife for a more intimate discussion with voters.
It was the first time voters heard directly from the Florida Republican amid speculation he’ll soon launch a 2024 bid.
Several voters in Spartanburg said they will support a DeSantis bid because they believe he has a better chance of winning over former President Donald Trump, who won Spartanburg County in the 2016 GOP presidential primary and remains popular among S.C. Republican voters.
Matt Robinson, 43, of Easley, said he voted for Trump twice, but said Trump is out of touch with the Republican Party.
“I just feel like we need someone younger in office that can relate more toward some of the modern things that are going on,” Robinson said. “What (DeSantis) has done in Florida is amazing, and I hope what he’s done there can carry forward into him possibly being the next president.”
Support for former S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley, who launched her 2024 bid in February, and U.S. Sen. Tim Scott, who has launched a 2024 exploratory committee, appeared limited Wednesday, but some said they’d be happy to see a DeSantis-Haley ticket.
“I think that’d be about the best thing we’ve ever seen in our lifetime,” said David Leopard, 64, of Inman.
Joanie Canteburry, 61, disagreed, saying Haley’s race would take votes from DeSantis.
“We need someone younger, brighter. We need a new revival, and I believe (DeSantis) is the guy to do it,” Canteburry said.
Though DeSantis has yet to signal when he’ll jump into the 2024 primary, the DeSantis political action committee has sought to cover the airwaves. This week, the PAC spent nearly $575,000 helping to promote a possible run with ads in Columbia, Charleston, Greenville and Myrtle Beach.
Still, support for Trump remains strong in South Carolina, particularly in the historically red Upstate.
A recent Winthrop University Poll showed Trump with 41% of S.C. GOP support, followed by DeSantis at 20% and Haley at 18%. Another recent poll from consulting firm National Public Affairs also showed Trump significantly ahead of DeSantis with 43%, followed by DeSantis at 21% and Haley and Scott with 19% and 7%, respectively.
DeSantis said Wednesday that elected leaders should not focus on polls.
“A leader is not captive to polls,” DeSantis said. “A leader sets out a vision, executes on that vision and delivers results. So don’t be captive to the polls, lead the polls.”
On Wednesday, Democrats voiced opposition to DeSantis’ visit, denouncing his “extremist agenda” at a news conference.
“He is coming to our state to tout his record of attacking reproductive health care, supporting plans to threaten Medicare and Social Security and tout what he likes to call the ‘Florida Blueprint’ that I can tell you right now constituents in this community and across this state, don’t want to see anything like that here in South Carolina,” said Kathryn Harvey, chair of the Spartanburg County Democratic Party.
Harvey said DeSantis has spent his time as governor pushing culture wars rather than keeping communities safe.
From attacks on COVID-19 restrictions to critical race theory and his fight with Disney, DeSantis has made a national name for himself in his push to maintain and expand Florida’s “freedom,” Harvey said.
Perhaps one of DeSantis’ biggest political brawls has involved the Walt Disney Company, which over the past 50 years has brought hundreds of billions of dollars to Florida’s economy, while serving as one of the state’s largest employers.
When it comes to issues such as “gender ideology,” DeSantis said he is willing to forfeit Disney’s significant contributions to his state.
“We’ve made sure that gender ideology has no place in our K-12 schools. Teach kids about math, teach them about English, teach them about the basics,” DeSantis said. “The corporate press didn’t like it when we did it, and Disney didn’t like it.
The company may have run the state for the past 50 years “before I got one the scene,” DeSantis said, “but they don’t run Florida anymore.”
“There is no room for (DeSantis) politics here in South Carolina. There is no room for his politics in our nation, and there is no room for hate here in our community,” Harvey said.
This story was originally published April 20, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
