NORTH AUGUSTA, S.C.–GOP presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, sometimes criticized for a stiff manner, was doing just fine at a South Carolina campaign stop.
After speaking for nearly an hour in a town hall format on June 22, DeSantis took over a dozen questions, then talked with the crowd of about 400 people for nearly two more hours.
Dressed casually in a blazer, jeans, and boots, DeSantis strode onto the in-the-round stage at the Riverside Park Activities Center in North Augusta, putting as much energy and passion into his policy discussion as most politicians put into their small talk.
He covered the usual topics. His battle against lockdown policies during the pandemic and asserting authority over colleges and public schools. His war on wokeness and the decline of the military. The rise of an unelected administrative state and the Biden administration’s weakness on everything from the southern border to the challenge of China, the economy, and protecting individual rights….