President likely to join Pence for SpaceX launch in Florida
It appears that President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence will both be at the Space Coast for SpaceX’s seminal launch next week, the first to carry humans to the International Space Station from U.S. soil in nine years.
Gov. Ron DeSantis seemed to let the news slip during a roundtable discussion regarding Central Florida’s tourism industry in Orlando at the Rosen Shingle Creek hotel attended by Vice President Mike Pence and numerous local tourism executives.
DeSantis said he was excited about the launch, which will be the first since the end of the space shuttle program to carry humans into space from the Cape. Since the end of the program, American astronauts
as soon as possible, said, “Orlando is suffering, Orlando is struggling. The hospitality industry is in a deep depression. But there’s hope.”
Carol Dover, president and CEO of the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, praised the “incredible creativity” of restaurants that reopened at 25% and later 50% capacity, saying the 25% mark wasn’t sustainable.
Gene Lee, the CEO of Darden restaurants, added, “if anything, [customers] are pushing back against 50% capacity” and want more.
But Dover also asked Pence in defeating Amendment 2, the $15-an-hour minimum wage measure on the ballot in November. The amendment has been spearheaded by Orlando attorney John Morgan.
“Nothing could be more catastrophic to an industry already hit as hard as it’s been hit is to be hit with an increase in the minimum wage,” Dover said.
In response, Morgan wrote on Twitter that Dover “makes $620K a year, 3 have launched on Russian Soyuz rockets instead.
The launch, from Kennedy Space Center’s historic launch complex 39A, is scheduled for 4:33 p.m. Wednesday.
“I think the big guy is going to be there. So, I’ll certainly be there,” DeSantis said. “We’re looking forward to doing that. He’s been a great advocate for the space industry both in terms of NASA but also the private sector.”
The White House has not yet confirmed whether Trump is traveling to Florida.
Pence, who chairs the National Space Council, has been in Florida for several milestones in the past few years, including the announcement of Space Command, the 11th combatant command to provide unified control overall
Earlier in the day, the vice president delivered personal protective equipment to the Westminster Baldwin Park senior living center, part of the Trump administration’s efforts to provide such supplies to nursing homes across the country.
“Now as Florida begins to open up again … we are going to continue to partner with you to protect your most vulnerable,” Pence said to DeSantis, who met the vice president’s Air Force 2 jet at Orlando International Airport and traveled with him to the senior center.
There has “not [been] a single coronavirus case” at Westminster Baldwin Park, Pence said, commending Shirley Schultz, the director of nursing. space military operations. He confirmed Wednesday that he’ll be in Florida next week to watch astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley liftoff on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
“I’m gonna be back here in a week,” Pence said. “…I know how important the space enterprise is here in the history of Florida. But I want to tell you that President Trump and I know that the history of space that will be written is going to be greater still and Florida will play, the Space Coast will play a key role in that.”
DeSantis said the problem areas in Florida have been prisons and nursing homes, and he’s not seeing spikes in the general public.
The campaign of former Vice President Joe Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, went on the attack about Pence’s visit.
Kate Bedingfield, communications director for Joe Biden, said Wednesday, “Vice President Pence’s damage control tour is coming to Florida, but it is too little and too late.”
“Tourism and hospitality industry workers in Orlando, as well as hard-hit small business owners, deserve more than just a visit from the Vice President,” Bedingfield said in a statement. “They need immediate economic relief, free and easy access to testing, and a President who will provide a comprehensive economic recovery plan for all Floridians, not just the Mar-a-Lago crowd.”