Democratic gubernatorial candidate David Jolly doesn't seem too preoccupied with President Donald Trump but candidly says he wouldn't mind if his name is indirectly on the ballot in Florida's governor race this November.
Jolly made the remark while speaking on The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MS Now this week. The comment comes after President Trump urged voters to "pretend like I'm on the ticket" while speaking at a campaign rally in North Carolina this week.
"Please, let's all pretend Donald Trump is on the ballot this year. Here's the interesting thing, and I really mean this, I don't talk about the president on this stump," Jolly said.Â
Jolly instead turned his focus to voter issues.
"I talk about the cost of housing, healthcare, food, and gas. Where you can educate your kids and say no to data centers," Jolly said. "That's it. That's the entire campaign."
While not focusing on Trump, Jolly referred to the president as the "scene setter for our chaos."Â
"Every day we wake up and we know we are divided. We're more broken than ever before," Jolly said. And leaders like Donald Trump tell us to hate each other. Byron Donalds tells us not to trust each other."
Jolly has criticized Rep. Donalds, his Republican challenger, for promoting division on the campaign trail. Donalds slammed Jolly for a series of "far-left" Democratic policies that some view as "culture wars" in a campaign ad last month.
"What's happening is voters are merging and trusting each other again. I don't litigate the president, but I accept he's the scene setter for the anxiety the nation is feeling," Jolly said. "And when we're divided, we're not improving housing, healthcare, education for people."
Jolly also tied Rep. Donalds to the president. Trump initially endorsed Donalds for governor in February 2025 and re-endorsed him again in May before the Republican primary.
"I welcome his reminder to the state in terms of his agenda and Byron Donalds. I just don't need to litigate it," Jolly said. "I've got to focus on housing, healthcare, food and gas, good schools, and no data centers, and that's it."
