(DailyVantage.com) – Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL), who has become a rising star of the Republican Party’s moderate wing, endorsed former President Donald Trump on Thursday.
Donalds wrote in a statement that Trump was the only one who could get the country “back on track”.
He is also a resident of Florida, making his Trump endorsement even more of a slap in the face to DeSantis.
Donalds, however, has broken with his fellow Freedom Caucus buddies by endorsing Trump for 2024.
As of late, notable members of the hardline MAGA Caucus have endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who still has not declared his candidacy for President.
On Wednesday, Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY), a conservative libertarian, endorsed DeSantis, saying that he is the “one leader… who can seize the moment and deliver what we need.” Massie went on to call DeSantis a “proven energetic leader”.
Representative Chip Roy (R-TX), one of the more vocal members of the Freedom Caucus who led the movement to block Kevin McCarthy’s Speakership back in January, also endorsed the Florida Governor recently. Roy, in an email he sent out to his supporters, called DeSantis a “vibrant and energetic leader with the faith, vision, and courage to chart a new course.”
Again, all of these endorsements for DeSantis are preemptive. The governor insists that his focus is on running Florida and promoting his new book, The Courage to Be Free.
Many, though, are not buying DeSantis’s book tour shtick. Gavin Wax, the president of the New York Young Republican Club, in response to Representative Massies endorsement, tweeted, “I thought he wasn’t running and was just a humble book salesman.”
To be sure, DeSantis is flirting with a presidential bid. Over the past few months, he has traveled to various battleground states and participated in numerous interviews, including one with Piers Morgan that lasted well over an hour.
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