Ron DeSantis event interrupted by protester with Pride flag

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A protester was escorted out after they unfurled a Pride flag during Florida governor Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign event in Tega Cay, South Carolina.

Mr DeSantis was addressing a gathering at the Philip T Glennon community center on Monday when an LGBT+ activist unfurled a Pride flag and reportedly began shouting slogans.

The governor spoke for 45 minutes then fielded questions from an audience of about 850 people at a centre.

The activist, wearing a T-shirt with the pride flag printed on it, was promptly escorted out of the centre as they held the bundled flag high.

While the activist was taken out of the room, Mr DeSantis yelled: "We don’t want you indoctrinating our children."

"Leave our kids alone," he added, as the crowd stood up to applause.

South Carolina is set to hold its GOP presidential primary on 24 February next year.

Last month, the far-right Republican criticised the Joe Biden administration for putting the Pride flag front-and-center at the White House and inviting a transgender influencer who removed her top in front of the House.

“When they had at the White House, you know, this transgender flag as the precedence over the American flag, that’s wrong, that is not how you display the American flag,” Mr DeSantis said.

The White House celebrated Pride Month when Rose Montoya, 27, shook hands with president Biden before later removing her top and sharing images on social media.

Meanwhile, Mr DeSantis is expected to file his paperwork for his 2024 presidential candidacy at the South Carolina headquarters in Columbia on Tuesday.

After he signs his candidacy paperwork, the governor plans to make a policy rollout in Columbia, the details of which the campaign did not immediately release.

It will be his second policy announcement, following his immigration proposals – which call for ending birthright citizenship and finishing construction of the southern border wall – outlined during a June visit to a Texas border city.

The South Carolina trip comes on the heels of a Friday GOP gathering in Iowa, where Mr DeSantis and other hopefuls – but not former president Donald Trump, the field's current frontrunner – were set to appear at the Family Leadership Summit.