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South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said Tuesday he remains behind President Donald
Trump despite recent controversies and the president s low approval ratings in polls.
I fully support him, said McMaster, who has raised $1.7 million so far in his bid
for a full four-year term in 2018. He s making this country stronger. He always tells
the truth as he sees it, and that s good for the country.
McMaster was the keynote speaker at a Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce Middle
Tyger Area Council luncheon in Duncan at the SCC Tyger River Campus. About 40 chamber
members attended.
McMaster, the former lieutenant governor, became governor in January of this year
when then-Gov. Nikki Haley resigned to become Trump s next U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations. Though he hasn t formally announced yet, the Richland Republican reported
raising $805,827 in the last quarter, and in May tapped Haley s former political adviser
Tim Pearson to be his top campaign strategist, according to The State newspaper.
McMaster, an early Trump supporter during the 2016 primaries, said he still backs
Trump s agenda despite a lack of progress in Congress. McMaster cited the need to
repeal and replace Obamacare as an example.
We ve got a lot of cleaning up to do, he said, referring to policies of the Obama
administration.
McMaster also said despite the Legislature s override of his veto of the 12-cent gas
tax, he plans to keep a close eye on the Department of Transportation to make sure
it spends its new revenues wisely. The DOT expects to receive $600 million a year
in additional revenues to fix crumbling roads and bridges.
I will see to it that we handle that money responsibly, McMaster said. We need good
infrastructure.
He repeated themes from previous lunches, such as promising to keep taxes as low as
possible.
He also touted the state s economic growth and the technical colleges that provide
training for many of the new jobs.
This is a great time for South Carolina, he said. We really do have great people
in government and great business leaders. Don t strangle our businesses with regulations
and taxes.
We used to have people looking for jobs, he added. Now we ve got jobs looking for
people, and they re good jobs.