TAMPA, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis took some time Thursday afternoon to speak to people attending the first day of the Florida State Fair.
The Florida State Fair officially kicked off Thursday morning with Commissioner Wilton Simpson “flipping the switch” alongside Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the Hernando County sheriff and local first responders and veterans.
Recommended Videos
The governor started off his speech talking about some of the many food offerings that he and his family plan to try at this year’s fair.
“So I’m gonna do Florida quesadilla, and we know that there’s a lot of classics that will be at the fair, the turkey legs, deep fried Oreos, elephant ears, as well as the great exhibits, the entertainment and the rides,” the governor explained. “I’m going to be doing a little bit of a spin with my two oldest here, and we’re looking forward to being able to do that. And I think it’s going to be very, very successful.”
The governor also took time to tout some of his accomplishments since taking office in 2019 including tackling the state’s debt, higher education, combating crime, issues regarding the COVID pandemic.
“You know, as the Commissioner mentioned, we’re in good shape in the state of Florida. You know, I look around the country and I’ve got a chance to visit some other places. There’s some states that are struggling. We’re doing very, very well,” the governor said.
He also took time to talk about the newest threat to the state’s growing agriculture industry.
“One of the threats I think that we’re looking at, and we’ve taken action in Florida, you have this whole movement called Environment Social Governance (ESG),” the governor said. “What they’re doing is basically taking businesses, major corporations, Wall Street banks, asset managers, coming together and saying ‘Well, we’re only going to do business with people that abide by these ESG criteria.’ So, that means kneecapping fossil fuels, that means kneecapping Second Amendment rights, there’s a whole agenda at play here. And one of their targets is agriculture.”
The governor said the state is leaning against these policies and fighting for the state’s agriculture industry.
“So in Florida, we’ve actually leaned in against the ESG. And we said we have a great state, a massive market. If we were our own country, we would be the 13th largest economy in the world come out of that is but you know, we’re not going to let you impose an agenda on the backs of our residents. That’s going to be harmful to people’s rights to people’s freedoms and certainly to some of our key industries,” the governor stated.
The 2024 Florida State Fair is officially OPEN! 🎡
— Florida Dept. of Agriculture & Consumer Services (@FDACS) February 8, 2024
Commissioner Wilton Simpson started the morning at the “Flip The Switch” event alongside CFO Jimmy Patronis, @HCSOSheriff Chad Chronister, and local first responders and military heroes. pic.twitter.com/x07OxLEiV9
More than 500,000 people are expected to visit the Florida State Fair during its 12-day run, according to officials. People can visit the fair from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday. On Fridays through Sunday, including Presidents Day, the gates are open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The Florida State Fair will run through Feb. 19 and feature food and drinks, midway rides, exhibits, live entertainment and agricultural competitions.
Click here for more information.
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: