Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis is not officially in the 2024 GOP primary race just yet, but DeSantis officials are firing back at Wednesday's Trump campaign claim that DeSantis operatives are seeking to flip GOP primary endorsements from Trump in the state Legislature.
"There is no evidence to support this false accusation because it is entirely made up by Trump staffers, who are resorting to manufacturing fake news about Ron DeSantis to explain the tsunami of nearly 200 endorsements in Iowa, New Hampshire, and Florida for the governor in just the last few days," Never Back Down's strategic communications director Matt Wolking, a pro-DeSantis PAC, told Newsmax in a statement, rebutting the claims of Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung earlier Wednesday.
Another unnamed DeSantis political operative also told Newsmax that former President Donald Trump's claim of "almost universal" support in Florida is false, as the state legislature is backing the governor nearly unilaterally.
"Ron DeSantis' support among Republicans in the Florida Legislature is almost universal because these lawmakers have partnered with the governor to pass the most robust conservative agenda in the history of the state, putting Florida at the top of the rankings on every key metric," the official told on Wednesday.
The DeSantis officials rebut a statement made earlier in the day by Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
"Ron DeSantis and his political cronies have continued to terrorize the Florida Legislature with the threat of his veto pen if they don't acquiesce to his demand to endorse his candidacy," Cheung alleged.
The continued back and forth between officials of the two leading GOP presidential primary contenders and the battle to line up and hail Florida endorsements show a DeSantis campaign announcement is only a matter of time.
There are 99 DeSantis endorsements from the members of the Florida Legislature, according to NBC News, a rebuttal to Trump's April 20 Trump Social claim his "support is almost universal in Florida."
There are 113 Republicans in the Florida Legislature and just one is endorsing Trump, according to NBC.
Among the 99 endorsing DeSantis are the state's GOP leaders, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo and House Speaker Paul Renner, Politico reported.
DeSantis, who spent Saturday in the key caucus state of Iowa, also recently picked up endorsements in New Hampshire — the state the GOP seeks to keep as the first-in-the-nation primary state, National Review reported Tuesday.
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.
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