ROCK HILL, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was met with cheers and applause during his town hall Thursday night. The appearance at Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2889 was one of the Florida governor’s four in the state this week and two in Rock Hill.
Hurricane Idalia hitting Florida in late August canceled a previous visit. Lisa Cline drove from Charlotte to show her support.
“My husband’s a Vietnam vet. Ron DeSantis is a vet,” Cline said. “And I want to hear what he has to say. I think he’s awesome.”
During the town hall, DeSantis touched on several topics including the Israel-Hamas conflict. He says if he was president he wouldn’t accept refugees from the Gaza Strip and declared his support for Israel and its right to defend itself.
“If you had a similar terrorist attack in America compared to population size, that had been the equivalent of 50 or 60,000 Americans killed in a terrorist attack,” DeSantis said. “So, this is like a huge deal. Joe Biden just slept through it. He didn’t take the 2 a.m. phone call, he just kind of slept in, did his thing. I can tell you as president, I’m taking that 2 a.m. phone call.”
DeSantis condemned Hamas, saying the U.S. shouldn’t send humanitarian aid to Gaza. The governor criticized the handling of the southern border — and other Biden policies.
That got voters’ attention.
“We need a change in this country,” he said. “We have a lot of people who have been in Congress in the Senate. It’s the same people we’re cycling over and over and over again. It’s time for a new face. It’s time for a younger generation to take over this country because we’re just having a terrible direction right now.”
DeSantis left the VFW for another stop at Winthrop University with Carolina Republican women’s groups.
