Former President Donald Trump continues to capture endorsements from Florida's congressional Republicans over Governor Ron DeSantis. Representative Carlos Gimenez intends to formally and publicly endorse President Trump very soon, as does Rep. Brian Mast.
One of the few remaining holdouts is Representative Kat Cammack.
While Time reported she intends to support President Trump over Gov. DeSantis, given Trump backed her own reelection campaign for Congress in 2022, Rep. Cammack is not one to endorse candidates on a whim.
Rep. Cammack's prudence in endorsement has afforded Gov. DeSantis a sliver of relief, yet this is only a small bandage applied to a massive wound.
DeSantis has tried to stop the bleeding of endorsements by contacting Florida Republicans, yet they continue to pick Trump over him.
A particularly crushing blow came from Senator Rick Scott, who chided DeSantis for recently saying Floridians did not have pride in their state until he became Governor in a New Hampshire speech.
"I’ve always been proud to live in Florida and I’ve never met another Floridian who isn’t proud to live in the Sunshine State. We have great weather, low taxes, and pride in our state and our country and its history," said Sen. Scott.
While this is not an explicit endorsement of Trump over DeSantis, could it mean he has lost the support of Sen. Scott?
Similarly, Representative Greg Steube has also criticized DeSantis by supporting Trump, saying that the Governor has ignored him since Steube was first elected.
As Rep. Steube said, "There have been multiple opportunities where I have gone up to him and talked to him, giving him my cell phone number, and asked him to reach out to me. There have been events in my district that I was specifically told I couldn't be part of the press conference, told to go stand in the corner, and was not allowed to be participating in that when he was in my district so, it's you can't win friends and influence people that way, especially in the political realm."
On the other hand, several Florida Republicans, most notably Representatives Byron Donalds and Cory Mills, reiterated that their support for Trump as President did not mitigate their support for DeSantis as Governor.
Rep. Donalds stated, "I haven't stopped my support of Ron DeSantis, we're just talking about the presidency. Look, our country is in a real problem and you got to be able to hit the ground running on Day 1. We know Donald Trump can do it he did it once before he can do it again."
Similarly, Rep. Mills added, "You know we've got a great governor. He's done a tremendous job. I am not in any way trying to diminish the impact that he's had here in the state of Florida, but what we need is a person who can actually lead on Day 1. Governor DeSantis has done a great job as governor but President Trump has shown to be a great president."
Regardless of who Rep. Cammack endorses in the 2024 Election, it is clear that DeSantis has his work cut out for him if he wants members of Congress on his side.
With Trump having endorsed Cammack in the 2022 midterm election, it is widely expected that she will return the favor in the coming days, weeks.
