Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson was also in Central Florida on Monday - not for a campaign stop but for a book signing at the Barnes and Noble in The Villages.
Hundreds of fans lined up to meet Dr. Carson, a line that initially formed outside but quickly snaked its way through the aisles of the store.
Fans were not allowed to have books personalized by Carson, nor were they allowed to take selfies with him. Carson was flanked by an impressive amount of police officers and bodyguards while he signed at a podium, often shaking hands and joking with fans.
“I want to meet our next President. I want to get up close with our next President,” said Sandi Uram, who waited very early Monday to get her purple wristband. Three groups of colored wrist bands were handed out based on the order and time fans began to line up to secure a place in line.
The Villages has always been a political hotbed for Republican candidates, however, Monday night not everyone getting a Carson’s book signed was even old enough to vote.
“I read his book ‘Gifted Hands,’ and he’s inspired me to become a better person’ said 10-year-old Logan Andrei, who arrived at the signing with his mom.
While Carson shook hands and signed for 90 minutes, not everyone there was a fan.
Chase Strong said he has issues with Carson’s lack of political experience and thinks the candidate is facing an uphill battle.
“With competition such as that, it’s going to be interesting to see how he is going to distinguish himself in a reasonable way,” said Strong.
Dr. Ben Carson speaks to the media during his book signing Monday. (Joel Schipper, Staff)
Carson disagrees.
“I think you can get experience from a lot of different ways but even more experience than that is to have wisdom – to know what to do with information,” said Dr. Carson during a brief meeting with reporters.
Monday’s visit in The Villages was just one of several signing stops for Carson.
Monday night he also held a signing at Books-A-Million in Kissimmee.
Carson will then go to Tampa on Tuesday, where he will hold a book signing at 2:30 p.m. at the Barnes and Noble on North Dale Mabry Highway. Around 6 p.m. he will be at a Lakeland Books-A-Million for another book tour.