Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to the Sumter County Fairgrounds on Thursday sent a clear message to many who attended the event – Sumter County clearly is on the radar of the Trump administration.
The stop in Bushnell for the former congressman and CIA director marked the end of a cross-global tour that included an international conference in Libya and appearances in the Caribbean and South and Central America. It also came a little more than three months after President Trump gave a speech at the Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center and a about two months since Donald Trump Jr. signed copies of his new book at Barnes & Noble in Lake Sumter Landing.
“That means they know where the votes are coming from,” said Village of Bonita resident Ed Sullivan, who is a member of Villagers for Trump, the Sumter County Republican Executive Committee and The Villages Republican Club. “Where Sumter County goes, Florida goes. And where Florida goes, the country goes.”
Longtime Villages Republican leader John Calandro said those three visits prove that the GOP powerbrokers in Washington, D.C. understand the importance of Florida voters – particularly the large contingent of Republicans who call Sumter County and the surrounding area home.
“We have a population of strong believers and strong conservatives who share the values of hard work and raising our families and paying our bills,” he said. “We are excited to see officials who represent what we believe. I think that’s why they come here – to get good audiences.”
Both Calandro and Sullivan said it was extremely promising to hear Pompeo talk about the excellent reputation the United States has abroad and the desires of so many across the world to experience the freedoms enjoyed across America on a daily basis.
“It’s nice to hear from somebody who’s out there on a day-to-day basis talking to world leaders verses listening to people who want to sit back from afar and criticize and talk about how we’ve lost our esteem in the world,” said Calandro, who lives in the Village of Sabal Chase and is serving as a media coordinator for several Republican organizations in The Villages. “I think it helps renew our confidence and our faith in what we believe, to see that we have that kind of world support.”
Sullivan agreed.
“I really liked how he talked about how most of the nations that he goes to visit likes us,” he said. “You don’t get that from the news or anything like that. It seems like they’re always saying they hate us.”
