A standing-room-only crowd of over 500 Republican voters and activists sardined themselves into the Historic Greer Depot this past Friday morning to hear from presidential candidate Ron DeSantis.
The Florida governor was in the Palmetto state stumping in Greer and later in Prosperity. South Carolina always receives a lot of attention from presidential aspirants during election season because of our early primary.
Several local elected officials were in attendance, including state Senator Josh Kimbrell, who introduced DeSantis. The Bob Jones Academy orchestra provided Christmas music for the event. WORD 98.9 talk show hosts Tara Servatius and Charlie James served as moderators.
Kimbrell said that conservatives in the South Carolina legislature look to Florida for legislative inspiration. “If it's good enough for Florida it's good enough for South Carolina,” he said.
When DeSantis got up to speak he touted his conservative record as governor in the Sunshine State, including supporting parental rights and school choice, as well as opposing Disney's woke agenda, banning sanctuary cities, and firing leftist George Soros-funded prosecutors.
The previous evening DeSantis and California governor Gavin Newsome held a nationally televised debate. Speaking of California, DeSantis said that it was a beautiful state but that, ideologically, “California is basically the model for the collapse of this country. You saw that last night,” he said, adding, “In California, they are putting the Leftist agenda ahead of their citizens and that's why people are leaving in record numbers.” He called San Francisco a 'pig sty.'
Speaking of Newsome's defense of California's education results, DeSantis said, “I've never seen anyone lie that much.”
“You look at everybody running for president,” said DeSantis, “there's one guy that beats these people all the time, and that's me. We beat them on the debate stage because conservative principles work.”
If elected president, DeSantis said that on Day One he would reverse the inflationary Bidenomics, open up domestic oil production, and get the bureaucracy under control.
“You'll see Day One we'll clean house in D.C,” he said. He said that no one has held the DOJ and the FBI accountable, but that he would, which would include the firing of the FBI director.
DeSantis lamented the lack of Republican pushback to the leftist Democrat agenda. “We will win against the Left and I think the Republicans have lost so many times because some of our people won't ever fight. They just cower anytime someone throws anything at them, they get all scared.” Speaking of fellow Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, he said, “I don't think she's shown a willingness to fight for you when it's tough.”
Haley, in contrast, said that, on Day One if she becomes president, she would require registration by name for anyone wishing to use the Internet.
“What Haley said was outrageous,” DeSantis said. He said that such a policy would lead to a social credit system and that it would be an overreach of government. He also warned that Haley, if president, would be controlled by people like Jamie Dimon and other insiders. He said that America needs a president who will take the country fundamentally down a different path.
DeSantis said that he produced results as governor. “I want to win people who may not be Republicans and I don't do it by trying to be squishy or twist myself into a pretzel. No, I do it by being bold. I do it by delivering results,” he said, adding, “We fought the woke, we fought the Left, we beat the woke, we beat the Left.”
