DeSantis says a free state is more than ‘low taxes, low regulation’ in South Carolina appearance

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke to a North Charleston, South Carolina crowd Wednesday morning in his ongoing Florida Blueprint tour.

The event was hosted by And To The Republic. Another is taking place Wednesday evening.

“I don’t think like you have a truly free state just because you have low taxes, low regulation and no COVID restrictions,” DeSantis said to the crowd, seated next to wife and First Lady Casey DeSantis.

“If the left is able to impose their agenda through the education system, through the business sphere and through all these others… a free state means you’re protecting your people from the left’s pathologies across the board,” he said. “That’s really what we’ve done in Florida.”

DeSantis has been traveling across the country promoting his accomplishments as Florida governor, along with touting his new book released on Feb. 28, “The Courage to Be Free.”

His appearance also took place as the state battle with Disney over control of the Walt Disney World-encompassing district.

He and the first lady reflected on their marriage, which took place in the Central Florida theme park property.

“Everybody thought it was so scandalous like, DeSantis married at Disney! Like, yeah, it was great back then,” the first lady said. “But he had one caveat, though.”

“No Mickey, Donald Duck, anybody at the wedding ceremony,” the governor said. “In fact, you look at our wedding pictures, you wouldn’t know that it was anything out of the ordinary.”

The governor said he and his wife did not expect the battle, which begin in 2022 over the Parental Rights in Education Act.

“No was thinking that somehow this would end up being something we would be involved with, you know, going toe-to-toe with them about gender ideology in Kindergarten,” he said. “Are you kidding me? I mean, it’s just absurd, but that’s just the way life is.”

Wednesday morning was also the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District Board’s first meeting since DeSantis announced the Legislature would work to revoke last-minute dealings that granted Disney far-reaching authority over the area for decades.

District Chairman Martin Garcia outlined a list of 14 changes the board is looking into, but he noted there will be more.

Garcia outlined changes, which include developing affordable housing, creating voting rights for future residents of the district, implementing traffic solutions for the surrounding counties, reducing the district’s carbon footprint, and ensuring Disney pays sufficient taxes on its property.

At a press conference Monday, DeSantis announced that legislation would be filed to revoke Disney’s last-minute agreements to increase their authority for decades over the area.

The governor called it a “sham agreement.”

“They negotiated with themselves to give themselves the ability to maintain their self-governing status,” DeSantis said. “Now that’s in direct defiance of the will of the people.”

The previous Reedy Creek district board, hand-picked by Disney, quickly slipped through an agreement to give Disney 30-year vested rights and control over all development rights throughout the entire district – not just on Disney’s property.