Roger Stone, a former campaign adviser to former President Donald Trump, told Newsmax on Wednesday that he voted for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis twice but he doesn't think now is the time for him to launch a presidential bid.
"He was just reelected less than five months ago," Stone told "Carl Higbie FRONTLINE." "The state still has very substantial problems. Recently you had a majority of the congressional delegation, Congressman Gus Bilirakis, Congressman Vern Buchanan, Congressman Byron Donalds, Congressman Matt Gaetz, Carlos Gimenez, Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, John Rutherford, Greg Steube, Mike Waltz, and now Dan Webster [endorse former President Donald Trump].
"These are the people who worked closely or at least served with Ron DeSantis and therefore they know him. They think, contrary to what his supporters may say, that President Trump is the right man at the right time in that only he has the larger foreign policy experience and, I think, the grit to take on the deep state."
Pointing to Desantis' age (44), Stone said "I don't think it is his time and I do think this new ad by the Trump campaign makes a very good point, which is loyalty in politics matters."
"Ron DeSantis was a long shot," he said. "He was challenging the Florida Republican establishment. It was only the tweeted endorsement by Donald Trump that literally catapulted him to the governor's nomination and then Donald Trump himself had to come here to Florida in the final two weeks of the 2018 campaign to do three rallies to help drag Ron DeSantis across the finish line. So I really hope that he will wait."
Lawmakers are gearing up to change Florida's "resign-to-run" law, which will allow DeSantis to run for president without stepping down as governor.
Florida Republican state Sen. Travis Hudson made final changes Tuesday to a section of Senate Bill 7050, an election reform bill that includes changes to mail-in voting, as well as tools for thwarting election fraud. Hudson's changes clarify current ambiguities in the law and exempt anyone running for president or vice president from resigning within 10 days of qualifying for federal office.
Stone said he was "very surprised" by the proposed changes to the resign-to-run law.
"They have written this legislation so that it is unique only for a state officeholder who seeks to run for president," he said. "So if I were in the state Legislature, and I wanted to run for Congress, and there are people in that situation, I would be required to resign my state job. But if this amendment passes, as I expect, Ron DeSantis will retain the fundraising fulcrum of the governor's office while running for president."
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