America First and Freedom Fest Events Shatter Attendance Expectations

by: Tyler Shaw

Florida has been the location of several major conservative events in the month of May. The first of which was the kickoff of the America First tour and the second major event was Freedom Fest. While both of these events took place at different times, in different locations, with different speakers, and for different reasons, both, which echoed the America First message of the conservative movement, shattered attendance expectations.

America First Tour

Florida’s first major conservative event took place in The Villages, located in central Florida. Congressman Matt Gatez of Florida’s first congressional district and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia’s fourteenth congressional district held their first rally kicking off their America First tour. “This tour is an invitation to our fellow patriots to join a positive populist movement.” said Congressman Matt Gatez.

Their first America First rally shattered attendance expectations with over 1000 people having to be turned away because the venue had reached its maximum capacity. “It’s our ideas, patriotism, and positive populism that fills the rallies from the prairies of Wyoming to The Villages of Florida.” said Congressman Matt Gatez.

Gatez and Greene each spoke at length about their experiences in the United States House of Representatives emphasizing how they each have been targeted for being outspoken America First Republicans. Greene spoke about how she was removed from her committees in the United States Congress while Gatez focused on how he had been falsely accused of scandals because of his effectiveness in promoting the conservative movement’s America First agenda.

Their message to those who have been targeting them is that they were elected to represent their constituents and they will not cave to foreign interests abroad or special interests at home.

Gatez and Greene went on to introduce their policy priorities, explaining that they will continue to fight for ones that put the interests of Americans first.

Gatez and Greene also called out several members of their own party in the United States Congress saying that many establishment members of the GOP are not advancing the America First agenda and that many have more loyalty to Corporate PACs than to the constituents that they’ve been elected to represent. 

Congressman Gatez explained, “I think that for our movement to remain inspirational and successful and to draw people in, we have to show the ability to tell the truth about some of our own.” Gatez went on to say, “And if we have people, as Republicans, that care more about the PACs donating to them then people they’re supposed to serve you should know that.”

Congressman Matt Gatez and Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene are expected to return to Florida in the future with Gatez saying, “America First isn’t going away, we’re going on tour! This is our first stop but there will be many more.”

Freedom Fest

Florida’s second major conservative event took place at Oakes Farms in Naples, Florida. The event was hosted by UnBossed Reporting and featured several predominant speakers including: founder of UnBossed Reporting, Brendon Leslie, political activist, Drew Montez-Clark, owner of Oakes Farms, Alfie Oakes, CEO of the Babylon Bee, Seth Dillon and founder of Project Veritas, James O’Keefe who served as the keynote speaker. 

The event was opened by Brendon Leslie who welcomed everyone to the event. Next Drew Montez-Clark and Alfie Oakes spoke about the importance of being actively involved in local elections in addition to being involved in state and national elections. The highlight of the event came when James O’Keefe, while giving his keynote address talking about the work that Project Veritas had done and will continue to do, announced publicly for the first time that due to the legislation signed into state law by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (Senate Bill 7072) Project Veritas is bringing a lawsuit against Facebook for censoring their content. 

Freedom Fest also shattered expectations with over 800 people in attendance and while these events were different, they each had huge turnouts because of the America First message delivered by the speakers.