Jordan's Trump Endorsement Significant, Continues Fueling Former President's Momentum

As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gears up for his 2024 presidential run, and looks to mitigate the growing number of Florida Republican congressmen endorsing his soon-to-be opponent, President Donald Trump, Rep. Jim Jordan has come out and openly endorsed Trump.

"100% for President Trump…"No one has demonstrated that they will do what they said and get things done like he did, and he did it with everyone in that town against him. And that's what I still respect about President Trump, and I'm for him all the way,” said Rep. Jordan

"I just talked to Vice President Pence. Great guy … Governor DeSantis, is a great guy. When we formed the Freedom Caucus, there were nine of us. He was one of the nine. But I am 100% for President Trump," added Rep. Jordan.

Rep. Jordan’s endorsement of Trump could be seen as a body blow to DeSantis, but it was expected, as has been the case with the latest round of congressional endorsements by Florida lawmakers for the former president

Reps. Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, and Cory Mills, have all come out to support President Trump, and now Gov. DeSantis’s operatives are trying to set up calls between the governor and other members of Florida’s congressional delegation before they endorse President Trump.

“We need to stop the infighting and come together and unify. And I think right now the person that we need to be unifying behind is President Trump,” said Rep. Mills.

Rep. Donalds stated,"There is only one leader at this time in our nation’s history who can seize this moment and deliver what we need - to get us back on track, provide strength and resolve, and Make America Great Again."

The Floridian has learned that several of the lawmakers DeSantis has reached out to would entertain a call from the governor, but are already committed to Trump, even if they won’t openly admit it now.

But while the Rep. Jordan endorsement is significant, and could be dismissed by DeSantis supporters, it's very telling.

For years, Jordan and DeSantis were very close as founding members of the House Freedom Caucus.

The Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres was privy to several closed-door meetings between the two men, where both appeared to be in line ideologically and politically.

In other words, Jordan and DeSantis appeared to be connected at the hip, and very loyal to one another.

Jordan was one of the first to know DeSantis was going to run for governor of Florida and not Attorney General back in 2017.

During a backroom meeting in the House Judiciary Committee in the Rayburn Building that year, Jordan turned to Floridian Publisher Javier Manjarres and asked, “So what do you think, governor?”

Manjarres quickly pivoted towards DeSantis in disbelief, who with a big smile agreed, and asked that he not report that news or tell anyone until he was ready to make the announcement.

Like Jordan, Manjarres sat on the breaking news for months.

According to Manjarres, the news came as a bit of a surprise, because for months, he and DeSantis exchanged numerous phone calls and text messages discussing his 2018 political plans and running for governor was not in the mix.

Manjarres said that DeSantis would ask him what he really thought about him running for Attorney General, and only brought up governor once.

If your names aren't Donald Trump or Ron DeSantis, endorsements usually don't help say many votes, let alone swing elections.

We saw how Trump's endorsement of DeSantis won the governor the 2018 Republican gubernatorial primary race, but one or two congressional endorsements will not move the needle.

However, a growing wave of congressional endorsements could help drive media attention and momentum, something DeSantis appears know very well.

DeSantis has received the endorsement of Reps. Thomas Massie and Chip Roy.