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The majority of the Florida GOP congressional delegation has backed former President Donald Trump, in a significant blow to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The backing of 11 Republican lawmakers out of 20 in DeSantis’s own back yard has raised questions about his viability as a competitor to Trump in the 2024 presidential election.
While DeSantis has not officially declared he is running, he is widely expected to announce a bid for the presidency after Florida’s legislative session wraps up in May. In the meantime, he has stepped up his travel around the country, and is set to go on an international trip to meet with U.S. allies Israel, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.
This week he met with GOP lawmakers in Washington, DC, and a DeSantis political aide reportedly called Florida Republicans asking them not to endorse Trump — which makes the recent backing of several more Florida Republican lawmakers even more damaging to DeSantis.
So far, Florida GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, Vern Buchanan, Gus Bilirakis, Carlos Gimenz, John Rutherford, Greg Steube, Brian Mast, and Mike Waltz have all endorsed Trump.
Waltz’s endorsement, first reported by Breitbart News, was particularly significant, given that he took over DeSantis’s former district.
