The 4th District Republican Club held an event in Greenville Monday evening featuring several state legislators as guests.
Moderated by News/Talk 98.9 WORD’s Tara and Charlie, the Freedom Caucus Forum features multiple GOP figures who are both a part of or support the SC Freedom Caucus, including Senator Jim DeMint who explained why the Freedom Caucus came about.
"One of the reasons that we've worked with Andy to help start the State Freedom Caucus Network and build freedom caucuses all over the country is that we've got the same situation with Republican party leadership here in South Carolina, states like Texas, where you've had Republican majorities for years, but we're still underperforming," DeMint said during the forum.
District 85 State Representative Jay Kilmartin was also in attendance, speaking on what the Freedom Caucus aims to accomplish.
"I would say go to every Republican's campaign notes, and that's the things that we push for, and that's the things that we actually vote for when we get downtown," Kilmartin said. "You can compare their talking points on the campaign trail with how they vote, and most of them do not vote that way."
Andy Roth, the President of the State Freedom Caucus Network, was one of the event’s three main speakers, and he said he is pushing to have Freedom Caucuses established in other states as well.
"As President of the State Freedom Caucus Network, my job is to help set up freedom caucuses in all the 50 states," Roth said. "One thing that I tell people is that there is 50 swamps in 50 states. And there is a swamp in Columbia, just like the swamp in DC and all the other 49 states. And it's because the establishment is in control of the purse strings. They tell the voters one thing and then do something else in the capitol. And it is only the Freedom Caucus that is willing to do what they said they would do on the campaign trail."
District 10 Thomas Beach attended the event and explained how coming together into a group has helped the Freedom Caucus further its goals.
"We coordinate, strategize, and work together," Beach said. "So no longer is there a lone ranger conservative out there trying to fight the world by himself; now it's a band of brothers. Whenever we have any legislation, for example we just got constitutional carry just passed in the House, we wanted to make it stronger. So that's how the Freedom Caucus is super effective."
You can watch the full recording of the Freedom Caucus Forum here: