Stumbling Biden and battles with the mouse, DeSantis campaigns in SC Lowcountry, Midlands

Polling shows Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a steep hill to climb against his top rival Donald Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. But those numbers didn’t dampen the spirits of nearly a thousand Beaufort County supporters as they packed onto the Okatie Ale House lawn and parking lot early Friday in DeSantis’ first stop on a whirlwind, daylong sweep through South Carolina.

Despite a warm morning compounded by the crowd’s body heat, and few chairs available, the sold-out event drew an eager crowd as DeSantis kicked off the first South Carolina tour of his campaign. It also attracted an uneventful protest, and a lone Trump supporter toting a large “Make American Great Again” flag.

After being greeted by South Carolina state Reps. Gary Brewer and Chris Murphy, DeSantis took the podium to the song “Real American,” then opened with a quick jab at the man he’s seeking to remove from office, President Joe Biden.

“We’ve all seen those videos of (Biden) stumbling around,” DeSantis began, referencing Biden’s on-stage fall at Thursday’s Air Force Academy graduation. “To me, it was frustrating because, symbolically, it’s representative of the state of our country. Our country continues to stub its toe.”

DeSantis made his first official campaign swing through South Carolina since launching his White House bid. He had also had stops in Lexington and Greenville counties.

DeSantis already has picked up support among South Carolina lawmakers. At his Lexington County event later Friday, DeSantis was backed by state Reps. Bill Hixon, R-Edgefield, and Micah Caskey, R-Lexington, and state Sen. Rex Rice, R-Pickens.

“My singular focus is beating Joe Biden. In my analysis, Ron DeSantis is the guy who can do it,” Caskey said. “I think he brings to bear all of the qualities that you want in the president. He’s had experience in the Congress. He’s had experience in executive office, and he’s demonstrated that leadership on a national stage through the pandemic. Polls or what people talk about matter, and there’s clear evidence across the country that he’s what people are clamoring for.”

The enthusiastic crowd in Bluffton latched onto DeSantis’ quick opener, drawing further applause when he added Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, would be in jail “if he were a Republican.”

The 44-year-old candidate announced his entry into the race on May 24 during a Twitter spaces event that opponents ridiculed for technical issues, before later appearing on national TV to outline his “Florida Blueprint” presidential bid.

Heading into his presidential campaign, DeSantis has touted Florida’s “parent-friendly” education, anti-abortion policies, strong economy and growing workforce as policies he can implement at the federal level.

“We run budget surpluses in the state of Florida. We’ve got a strong economy, we manage our budget and resources very well … if we were our own country, it would be the 13th largest economy in the world,” DeSantis said, criticizing federal-level spending that he said has made Americans “poorer.”

The governor’s rise to GOP prominence is marked by no shortage of controversy. Most notably, his front in the raging “culture war” has been ground zero for a feud with what is perhaps America’s largest cultural monolith, Disney, over Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The bill places extensive restrictions on what schools can teach regarding sex, sexuality and gender.

As DeSantis made his campaign swing through South Carolina, the state Democratic Party countered his message, criticizing the six-week abortion ban he recently signed in Florida and his ongoing battle with Disney.

“He’s catering to a small base of people and does not represent what people in this country and people in South Carolina want,” Richland County state Rep. Beth Bernstein said, standing alongside state Rep. Annie McDaniel, D-Fairfield, and South Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Christale Spain.

“You can see ... the abortion ban (and) constitutional carry that he signed into law,” Bernstein continued. “Those aren’t things that people in this country really want. And I think as time goes on, people are going to see him as being extreme, and he’s not a replacement for Trump. No one can replace Trump’s rhetoric, and I think he’s trying to.”

Some of DeSantis’ GOP partymates have been lukewarm to critical of his bout with the Mouse, but the Florida governor said he aims to stand his ground in the fight against the “800 pound gorilla.”

“These Republicans now are attacking me and are siding with Disney, the multi-billion dollar corporation. … I think they’re trying to get favor with the media or something,” DeSantis said in his Bluffton speech. “We oppose the sexualization of children, we oppose anyone that seeks to rob our children of our innocence, and on those principles there will be no compromise.”

A small cadre of protesters assembled outside Okatie Ale House mockingly donned Mickey Mouse ears as a reminder of Florida’s ongoing legal battles against the corporate giant, which has claimed First Amendment violations. The company maintains the crackdown is illegal government retaliation against a private entity because of its political stance.

‘Woke mind virus’

DeSantis said he would continue his push against the “woke mind virus” and gender ideology in schools if elected president. The former Navy man and SEAL team legal adviser said he’s even hoping to extend that philosophy to the U.S. military.

“We need to make sure every institution in our society isn’t going on an ideological joyride,” DeSantis told the Bluffton crowd. “I have parents and grandparents coming up to me, saying they wouldn’t want their kids and grandkids to join the military right now because it’s going woke. They drove people off with the COVID shot mandates, they drove off a lot of good warriors with that. We’re going to offer those people their jobs back.”

DeSantis stirred the pot on immigration late last year after he used around $615,000 in taxpayer funds to fly 50 immigrants from Texas to Florida then to Martha’s Vineyard. Former Massachusetts governor and fellow Republican Charlie Baker was not informed of the stunt, and a Texas sheriff has opened a criminal investigation of the incident.

DeSantis recently authorized Florida’s national guard to deploy to the U.S.-Mexico border, touting it as further proof of his hardline stance against illegal immigration.

In outlining his “get results fast” approach, DeSantis pointed to his and the Republican Party’s electoral success in Florida, bragging that there are no Democrats elected to a statewide office. However, he bemoaned the GOP as a whole fumbling what he considered easy victories.

“You can’t get any of that done if you don’t win. There is no substitute for victory,” DeSantis told the Bluffton crowd. “We have to shake this culture of losing that has infected our party. ... We’ve squandered so many of these easy races in the last few election cycles.”

He urged the attendees to continue their support and, most importantly, turn out to primary polls.

“I think the last few years have shown us just how fragile freedom really is. It is not our birthright, you have to fight for it,” DeSantis said. “If you support me and help me win this nomination for the Republican Party, then you can mark your calendar for Jan. 20, 2025, and I will be on the west side of the U.S. Capitol, this right hand will be on the Bible and I will take office as the 47th president of the United States.”

How does DeSantis poll?

DeSantis is now considered a Republican frontrunner alongside former president Donald Trump in what’s likely to be a two-man brawl for the GOP nomination come 2024.

Their brewing rivalry, which has seen Trump take to naming DeSantis “DeSanctimonious,” another instance of the former president giving his opponents unflattering nicknames, comes despite Trump’s endorsement being a major factor in DeSantis winning his gubernatorial race in 2018.

The DeSantis-Trump race has divided many Republicans in Congress and elsewhere, from a former Trump campaign aide offering their support to DeSantis to a current New Hampshire lawmaker flipping support from DeSantis to Trump due to the former’s poor campaign launch.

Trump still appears to hold the broader public’s support, despite ongoing federal legal battles. A May 11 Florida Atlantic University poll reported 69% of Florida Republicans backed Trump over their governor. A Quinnipiac poll from May 18 to May 22 saw Trump sway 56% of the GOP electorate to DeSantis’ 25%.

Among South Carolina Republican primary voters, DeSantis is in second place trailing Trump, according to recent polling.

DeSantis was nearly tied with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley when they garnered 20% and 18% respectively in a Winthrop University poll released in April.

DeSantis’ support increased to 23% in May from 21% in April in a monthly National Public Affairs poll.