AKRON, Ohio — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Ohio on Thursday, making two separate at several Lincoln Day celebrations across the state.
While it’s still unclear if DeSantis will run for president in 2024 and take on former President Donald Trump for the Republican ticket, he touted himself to a room full of Ohio Republicans during the Lincoln Day Breakfast in Summit County.
“In Florida, we stand up for taxpayers. We stand up for economic freedom,” said DeSantis during the event held at Quaker Station Catering in Akron.
The 44-year-old is now in his second term as Florida governor.
During his speech in Summit County, DeSantis reiterated his support of tougher border control and support of what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law, which bans talk of sexual orientation and gender identity in public school classrooms in Florida.
“I just believe a parent should be able to send their kid to kindergarten, have them watch cartoons, let them just be kids without having some agenda shut down their throat,” said DeSantis.
The governor also briefly talked about his current battle against Disney. DeSantis recently stripped the Reedy Creek Improvement District of its powers over Walt Disney World.
“I made it clear that they don’t run the state of Florida, we run the state of Florida,” said DeSantis.
The Florida governor, however, made no mention of a run for the White House during his speech in Summit County.
A number of polls currently show DeSantis trailing Trump among possible candidates in a GOP primary. And while not mentioning that directly, DeSantis spoke out against polls in general.
“A poll is, at best, a snapshot in time. And I could take a poll of this room, and then I could ask the question differently and I would get a different result,” he said.
DeSantis also attended the Lincoln Day Dinner in Butler County on Thursday.
