Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker traveled to South Carolina Thursday, as he continues to explore a potential 2016 presidential run.
The Republican met with South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, before speaking to a crowd well-represented by business leaders. Walker spent most of his 30-minute speech talking about his record in the Badger State, including a very high-profile fight with public-sector unions in his first year, when tens of thousands of protesters filled the state Capitol building. He said “if I’d just run for the title or the position, 100,000 protesters might have scared me off. But because I was doing it for Matt and for Alex, and for all the other sons and daughters like them…for all the other grandsons and granddaughters like them, I knew I could not back down.”
The audience also applauded noticeably when Walker mentioned signing a right-to-work law in Wisconsin earlier this month, which he said is among the reforms that have made Wisconsin better for the next generation and their children.
Walker also criticized President Obama for what he called a failure to view radical Islamic terrorism as a threat. He said “we need a leader who will look the American people in the eye, and say ‘we will do whatever it takes…to make sure radical Islamic terrorism does not wash up on American shores.’”
Walker’s speech hit on many of the same points that he has presented to audiences in Iowa and New Hampshire in recent weeks, as he continues to test the waters of an expected presidential campaign. The governor also plans to speak to GOP audiences on Friday in Rock Hill and Charleston.
South Carolina Radio Network’s Mat Long contributed to this report.