(DailyVantage.com) – Texas Republican Congressman Chip Roy endorsed 44-year-old Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president over 76-year-old former President Donald Trump during an April 19 appearance on Fox News, arguing it was time for a president who was not a Baby Boomer.
Pointing out that he was a “strong supporter” of Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the 2016 Republican primary before ultimately backing Trump when he became the Republican presidential nominee, Roy said that while he was now endorsing DeSantis for president, he would support whoever ended up winning the party’s nomination.
Roy argued that it was “time to have someone” who was “not a Baby Boomer” in the White House, as well as somebody who was eligible to serve two back-to-back presidential terms.
The congressman pointed out that DeSantis won his reelection as Florida governor in 2022 by more than one million votes and that he won the support of 62 percent of Hispanic Florida voters and 50 percent of single women. Roy also praised DeSantis for “taking on” both the “education establishment” and the “corporate establishment” with his Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibited teachers from teaching children under the age of ten about sexual and gender identities, and his attempts to limit Disney’s power in the state through the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.
Roy went on to say that it was time for a “new generation” to lead the country and to finish the America First mission that Trump started in 2016.
All major 2024 Republican primary polls show Trump to be the frontrunner and DeSantis the second most popular, with an April 18 Morning Consult poll placing Trump’s support at 53 percent and DeSantis’ support at 24 percent. The Morning Consult poll placed former Vice President Mike Pence third at 7 percent, followed by former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley at 4 percent and populist businessman Vivek Ramaswamy at 3 percent.
FiveThirtyEight’s polling average assessment placed Trump’s average support at 49.3 percent and DeSantis at 26.2 percent.
While DeSantis has not yet officially entered the 2024 presidential race, Trump has launched frequent attacks against the Florida governor in an attempt to convince him not to run.
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