Surprise Appearance: Country Thunder Crowd Goes Wild for Gov. Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis made a surprise visit to the Country Thunder fest in Kissimmee, Florida, on O
@RonDeSantisFL
Hannah Knudsen

Thousands of country music fans attending the Country Thunder fest in Kissimmee, Florida, went wild for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who made a surprise appearance at the event over the weekend.

The Country Thunder event —  which featured country music stars including Chris Young, Chase Rice, Morgan Wallen, Jason Aldean, and Tracy Lawrence — took place over the weekend and featured a surprise appearance from the popular Republican governor. According to the DeSantis campaign, the governor fired up the crowd of 20,000+ fans, walking out after a performance from Tracy Lawrence. Chase Rice and Morgan Wallen performed after his appearance.

Videos show the crowd cheering as the governor took the stage:

One video shows the governor thanking first responders who assisted in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian, which battered the southwestern portion of the state weeks ago.

“And we thank all of our first responders,” DeSantis said to cheers, “who help us every day but stood up and rescued thousands of people after Hurricane Ian.”

“And we have been working to help restore southwest Florida,” he continued:

Another video shows the crowd chanting “USA!” — an energy similar to that seen at Trump rallies:

DeSantis, who is leading his Democrat challenger Rep. Charlie Crist (D-FL) by an average of ten percentage points, per RealClearPolitics, will face off against Crist Monday night at 7 o’clock in their first and only debate ahead of Election Day.

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