Thread by @HenryJGomez

Hello from the Ohio Political Summit in Strongsville, where Matt Gaetz will speak this afternoon to a room of suburban Republicans. A bunch of Senate and gov candidates have backed out of the event. Right now attendees are watching a video of Trump’s 2020 campaign kickoff.

A scene from the parking lot.

Just spoke with Dave Desser, a gentleman from Toledo who is leading a "No More DeWine" effort. He tells me he'd rather vote for a Democrat than someone he considers a "RINO."

"I'd vote for Nan Whaley before I vote for Mike DeWine."

Who knew the Nan Fan movement had such crossover potential?

Jonah Schulz, one of the Republicans primarying Anthony Gonzalez in #OH16, just took a big swing at Trump-backed Max Miller, calling him an elite insider and calling attention to his criminal record. Team Gonzalez has to love two candidates fighting for the Trump vote.

Along those lines, a Miller supporter in the crowd just asked Schulz if he’d step aside to allow Miller a clearer path. Schulz said NO.

Bob Frantz, a local conservative radio host, is now speaking. He admits he was a last-minute addition—added to the program yesterday. Organizers have a lot of time to fill now that other candidates dropped out of the event.

It’s unclear if audience members know that most of the candidates/speakers have dropped out of the program, but they are rewarding the lesser-known candidates who showed — like gubernatorial hopeful Joe Blystone — with cheers of delight. (DeWine was never scheduled to attend.)

.@laurenboebert was supposed to speak at this event this afternoon but she’s nowhere to be found. Organizer won’t answer questions about if she’s still speaking and just pulled a candidate from a different congressional district on stage to fill the time.

We’re almost at the end of the Ohio Political Summit, and so far at least seven people who were promoted as speakers have not shown, including Boebert, @JDVance1 and @JimRenacci. Candace Owens is speaking now. Gaetz supposedly is the closing speaker.

Candace Owens has offered herself up as a running mate for Trump in 2024. And she just praised Ron DeSantis while also saying “I’d hate to lose him as a governor.” So .........

And now @mattgaetz is indeed here and on stage now.

Looks like a dozen or so people got up and left as soon as Owens was done. Others milling around, casually heading for the doors.

Gaetz: “I'm being falsely accused of exchanging money for naughty favors. Yet, Congress has reinstituted a process that legalizes the corrupt act of exchanging money for favors, through earmarks.”

“If I were president,” Matt Gaetz just said, “I’d make Candace Owens the head of the Republican Party.”

Also: a couple of hecklers were just removed. They didn’t cause much of a disturbance. Stood up and chanted something unintelligible before being escorted out.

And that’s a wrap for Gaetz in Strongsville. Standing ovation from a few hundred suburban Republicans. Thanks for following along!

Here’s the full story of today’s doings in Strongsville: nbcnews.com/politics/congr…