The crowd at a Luke Bryant concert erupted in cheers Friday night when the country music singer brought Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) on stage to promote the state’s recovery efforts from Hurricane Ian.
Bryan’s concert in Jacksonville, Florida, which was part of his ‘Raised Up Right’ tour, had been postponed several times in recent weeks due to the hurricane.
“We’re going to have some fun and we’re gonna raise some money tonight for the great state of Florida,” Bryan said. “Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage Governor Ron DeSantis.”
DeSantis was greeted by loud cheers as he walked on stage and tossed hats out into the crowd.
DeSantis just walked out on stage at Luke Bryan. It’s deafening in here. pic.twitter.com/WHelgPCxM1
— Bonnie Upright, APR (@bonnieupright) October 29, 2022
“All you Florida voters, if you want to keep the state of Florida free, we need you to vote on November 8th,” the governor said.
Shortly after the governor made the remarks, the crowd started chanting, “USA! USA! USA!”
“The state of Florida had to deal with the major hurricane last month, and it’s not easy to deal with. It’s hurt a lot of people,” DeSantis added. “Though I can tell you this, show me any other state that can rebuild bridges in three days. I don’t think you can find that.”
DeSantis noted that more than $50 million has been raised to help the victims of the hurricane and then he directed people to donate money to the victims through the Florida Disaster Fund.
Bryan then said he would donate proceeds from the show in Estero, Florida, to the fund to help victims.
“Because of the hurricane, they had to use the venue that I was performing in as a shelter. Well, we’ve been going back and forth, we didn’t know if it was too soon to play or not but the area of Estero said, ‘Get your a** to Estero,’ so, we’re doing a concert,” Bryan said. “So, what we’re going to do is give a large portion of the proceeds in Estero, Florida … to everybody that’s bought tickets, kept the ticket, and spending the money … I’m donating that money to the great state of Florida.”
DeSantis later thanked Bryan on Twitter, writing: “Thanks for letting me crash the party last night, @lukebryan!”
Thanks for letting me crash the party last night, @lukebryan! pic.twitter.com/GCuTELFOM9
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantisFL) October 29, 2022
