Byron Donalds speaks at Daytona Beach rally

Daytona Beach, how are you doing this evening? In four short days, I'm going to be your next governor. I just want to let you know, I wanted to let you know a couple of things. First and foremost, Ashley was out here. She did a tremendous job. In four days, Ashley Moody is going back to the United States Senate. In four days, James Uthmeyer is going to be your attorney general one more time. In four days, we are going to defeat the Democrats in Florida. And in four days, Florida will remain the free state of Florida. We have a lot to be celebrating in our state. As we've been traveling all over Florida, I've been talking to people everywhere. I was in Martin County this morning. And we started telling the folks about all the things that we are going to do, the things that we stand for, the things that make Florida different than everywhere else, why people continue to choose Florida. But before I got to Florida, I had to start with Jolly, David Jolly. Oh, Daytona, you know what's funny about that? Two months ago, nobody ever heard of him. I would mention his name in a room and people would be like, who? But you've heard of him now. David Jolly is a fraud. David Jolly is a jolly come lately to the Democrat Party. But let me tell you a little bit about my opponent, because I think it's time now that we lay out the full case. You see, David Jolly is a failed Republican. Ten years ago, he was a Republican member of Congress. And ten years ago, he decided, when he just became a member of Congress for the first time, he decided that he was going to run for the United States Senate when Marco Rubio ran for president ten years ago. So when Marco came back to run for the Senate, David went back to run for Congress. And he had an opponent 10 years ago, and his opponent's name was Charlie Crist. Oh, you've heard of Charlie Crist, too. And so in the one time that David and Charlie debated, David Jolly looked at Charlie Crist and he said very clearly, he goes, Charlie, nobody can believe you because you only changed your policies because you changed your party. And now 10 years later, David Jolly has only changed his policies because he changed his party. You see, David Jolly is a fraud and the people of Florida cannot trust David Jolly. But it's more than that. You see, David Jolly, when he was a Republican, he was somebody who was a staunch supporter of the Second Amendment. Today, David Jolly says he doesn't care about the The second amendment. But David, do you know who cares about the Second Amendment? The people here in Daytona Beach, they care about the Second Amendment. And David, as your next governor, I care about the Second Amendment. And we are going to protect the Second Amendment because that is what we do in Florida. We protect constitutional rights. Ten years ago, David Jolly was somebody who believed in the pro-life movement. As a member of Congress, he voted to defund Planned Parenthood. For my Democrat friends in the state of Florida, registered Democrats all through our state, I want to help you understand something. Your nominee for governor, when he was in Congress, voted to defund Planned Parenthood. That's what he did. Ten years later now, David Jolly says he wants to bring Roe v. Wade to Florida. So folks here in Daytona Beach, I know that you support life. I know you do. In Florida, as your governor, we will protect life here in our state. The reason why I bring these things up is because when you're choosing a leader, when you're choosing the next governor of the greatest state in all of America, we can't have wishy-washy. We can't have a flim-flam artist. We can't have a snake oil salesman. We can't have a con man. We cannot have a fraud. And Florida cannot have David Jolly. Are you with me here in Daytona Beach? A couple of days ago in Brooksville, Florida, in Hernando County, I was with Governor DeSantis. Governor DeSantis has done a great job leading our state these last eight years. Daytona, give Governor DeSantis the round of applause that he deserves. But you see, Daytona, about six years ago during COVID-19, Governor Ron DeSantis had to make a decision that did alter the trajectory of our state. At the height of COVID, he had to make a decision that impacted the lives of all Floridians and, dare I say, impacted the lives of so many other Americans. He made a decision when, at the time, it was not popular. James was there, he knows. At the time, it was not popular. I was in the state legislature, I know. At the time, it was not popular. But Governor DeSantis made the decision to make sure that Florida was open and Florida was free. And during that time in Florida, the people of this state, whether they were born and raised in the great state of Florida or they had come to live in the great state of Florida, they appreciated the decision that Governor DeSantis made because he led and he kept our state open. But there was a Floridian, there was a Floridian who was born in our state, who was raised in our state, who made a decision to leave Florida when Ron DeSantis kept Florida open. And this guy fled to the state of Pennsylvania. Now, folks, my wife, honey, stand up. No, keep standing. You got to stand for a second. I'm earning brownie points right now as we speak, everybody. Ladies and gentlemen, the next first lady of the great state of Florida. My wife is born and raised in Florida, too. My wife is an eighth generation Floridian. Yeah, eight before statehood. Most people, virtually every Floridian, when Ron DeSantis kept this state open, they said, thank God somebody has sense. I'm staying here in Florida, except for one person, and that man's name is David Jolly. Daytona, I've never seen somebody say, wait, Florida's going to be open. Florida's not going to mask kids. Florida's going to keep kids in schools. Florida's going to let you be free. And he said to himself, he doesn't want any part of that. He'd rather go to Pennsylvania. So as far as I'm concerned, after November 3rd, David Jolly can go back to Pennsylvania because anybody, anybody that chose Dr. Fauci over Florida does not deserve to lead our state. So you see, Daytona Beach, this is what's on the line in four days. In four days, it's about making sure that the leader of our state is committed to the Constitution, that the leader of our state is committed to individual liberties, that the leader of our state is committed to school choice and parental rights, that the leader of our state is committed to the Second Amendment, that the leader of our state is committed to the men and women in law enforcement. That the leader of our state is committed to common sense and that the leader of our state is committed to what has made Florida the greatest state in all of America. In politics we spend so much time talking about the other guy and I've talked enough about Jolly. Now I'm going to talk about what we stand for and what we are for. We've been traveling this state for 20 months in this campaign to be your governor. We've been everywhere from Pensacola, Niceville, Mariana, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Tampa, Florida, Lakeland. We've been in Hialeah, we've been in Ocala, we've been in Little Haiti, and we've been in Overtown. And of course, my home is Southwest Florida. We have been everywhere. What's on the mind of everybody in our state is affordability. It's on your mind. We have to lower insurance costs in the state of Florida. How we do that is we use common sense. How we do that is we build on the great work of Governor DeSantis. The Office of Insurance Regulation just said the other day that insurance companies in this state are lowering premium rates by double digits here in Florida. We do that by making sure that after the storm passes, when it's time to rebuild, that you don't wait on local government for a permit. Your permits are automatic because it is your home. And you shouldn't have to wait on anybody to rebuild and repair your home. We work on affordability because the people of Florida need relief from property taxes. Amendment 3 is on the ballot. It is up to you, the people of Florida. But I will tell you, I support Amendment 3 because the people of our state need relief. It's about lowering the cost of building housing in our state because we want working families and young families to be able to buy a home and raise a family and build that Florida dream for themselves. And we want our seniors on fixed income, we want them to be able to live their golden years in the greatest state in all of America. We believe that the future of our success is the future of our children's success. This is why we support school choice, because your children belong to the parents that was given, that God gave them. In Florida, the children of our state do not belong to the government. They belong to their parents. And as your next governor, parents will be leading the charge when it comes to the education of their children. In Florida, we believe, we believe that we want you to get a car. In Florida, we believe. We believe that we want you to get a college degree, but if you're not going to Florida State, if you're not going to UCF, if you're not going to the University of Florida or the University of Miami, we want our high school kids to get internships and apprenticeships and on-the-job training. That's what we stand for in Florida. Because we know and we believe that there's many ways to be successful. And in Florida, we want all of our children to have all of the pathways available to them to be successful. Because what we believe in Florida is that we will never allow the radical left to transgender our kids. I said this line in a rally similar to this one in Madison Square Garden about two years ago. And I'm going to repeat it for all of you tonight. My mom is a single mom, a strong mom. My mom was a school choice mom before school choice was even a thing. And I promise you this, if the schools tried to tell my mom that her son could be a girl, she would have burned that school to the ground. We are a state that when the chips are down, we step up and we back everybody. In the panhandle of Florida, Hurricane Isaias just went through. I figured out how to pronounce the thing. Had to figure it out. It was a tough one. In the panhandle, they're still recovering, specifically in Santa Rosa County. In Milton, Florida, and in Jay, Florida, they're still recovering. There are people that lost their roots, totally. Seniors, people who have loved and lived in this state for a long time, a lot of them their entire lives. As governor, we don't leave any Floridian behind when it comes to rebuilding our communities. The president of the United States called me yesterday morning. He said, Byron, are you seeing the lines in Daytona Beach? I said, yes, sir. He goes, what else do you think we need? I said, well, sir, we need the sign off for individual assistance from FEMA for the people in the panhandle. And the president said to me, it's done. Make sure people get it to me. And it was signed off two hours later for the people in the panhandle. You see, Governor DeSantis has done a great job in helping our communities get back on their feet as quickly as they can. As your next governor, we are going to build on that standard because no communities will be left behind, not in Florida, not on my watch. You see, these are the things that we believe. And by the way, right here around Daytona, not too far from here, while we're protecting our agriculture lands, which are critical to our state, While we make sure that our waterways are clean for the future of our state and the people who live here now, while we make sure we have the fresh water for the future of Florida, we are also going to continue to expand our economies. Florida is the 14th largest economy in the world. 14th. We are on our way to being a top 10 global economy, but we're not going to do economic growth the way they do it in those crazy blue states. We are going to maintain common sense and conservative principles while we build an economic powerhouse here in the great state of Florida. And not too far from here, Florida is going to lead the Western Hemisphere in commercial space. We are going to launch more rockets to lower Earth orbit, more rockets to the moon, more rockets to Mars and more rockets beyond. And it's all coming right here in the great state of Florida. And when we talk about launching all these rockets, this isn't just about Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin. This isn't just about SpaceX and Elon. This isn't just about the engineers and the scientists who will be working in these industries throughout the state of Florida. This is about the welder and the electrician. It's about the HVAC specialist and the contractor. It'll be about the hardworking men and women of our states with the jobs that put food on the table or roof over their head so they can build that Florida dream for themselves. You see, my opponent, he said the other day that my agenda was anti-Black. Can you believe the stupidness that comes out of that fraud, David Jolly's mouth? Ladies and gentlemen, I don't know if you know this. Breaking news, your next governor has been Black his entire life. But the color of my skin is not what qualifies me to be your governor. The vision for a great Florida, the vision for a free Florida, the vision for a Florida where it doesn't matter what the color of your skin is. A Florida whether you live in Miami, the panhandle or the heartland that we fight for all of Florida, that is what qualifies me to be your next governor. You see, David Jolly may be a jolly come lately to the Democrat party, but he's already figured out some of the tricks. I am sick and tired of the Democrats trying to lecture us on race. It is the Republican Party that was formed to free the slaves. It is the Republican Party that has always fought for civil rights here in the United States of America. It is the Republican Party that when the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act was passed, it was Republicans who made sure it got through Congress while Democrat senators were filibustering the Civil Rights Act. And it is Republicans today who believe in the merit, the talent, and the ability of all of God's children. And as your next governor, they will succeed here in the great state of Florida. So Daytona, we're four days away. In four days, we are going to keep Florida as the free state of Florida. In four days, you are going to go to the polls and you are going to make sure that Florida remains red. In four days, we're going to do in our state what we've grown accustomed to in Florida. We are going to beat the Democrats one more time here in the great state of Florida. And in four days, we're going to tell America that they can have that craziness in California. They can keep the idiocy in New York. Mamdani stays up there with it, but it's not coming to Florida. God bless you, Daytona. God bless America, and God bless the great state of Florida.