DeSantis keeps losing home-state endorsements to Trump, and the Florida governor's recent visit to DC didn't produce any converts.
REUTERS/Brian Snyder
- Ron DeSantis bled support from the Florida congressional delegation this week.
- 3 more Florida GOP lawmakers are lining up behind Trump amid DeSantis' trip to DC.
- "They just want to hear him," was how one House Republican summed up a Tuesday meet-and-greet.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' personal appeal to congressional Republicans in DC on Tuesday night appears to have spectacularly backfired, as Florida lawmakers continue throwing their support behind Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
The embattled former president started out the week with endorsements from GOP Reps. Cory Mills, Anna Paulina Luna, Matt Gaetz, and Byron Donalds firmly in hand. Florida Rep. Greg Steube climbed on the bandwagon Monday, one day before DeSantis — who hasn't officially declared for the race but is anticipated to mount a presidential bid — was scheduled to plead his case at a House-side event.
Insider reached out to the nearly dozen current GOP lawmakers who served with DeSantis during his time in Congress, and none responded to inquiries about attending his Tuesday night meet-and-greet.
Instead, former delegation mate Rep. John Rutherford announced that he was backing the twice-impeached former president before DeSantis even had a chance to speak. And freshman Rep. Brian Mast told CNN that not only does he plan to endorse Trump, he'll also spearhead a "Veterans for Trump" group.
And while he doesn't hail from the Sunshine State, Republican Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas twisted the knife by declaring that he was Team Trump — after sitting through DeSantis' spiel.
"I met with Governor DeSantis, and while he has done commendable work in Florida, there is no doubt in my mind that President Trump is the only leader who can save America," Gooden wrote online.
Just passing through
An aide to Rep. Mike Gallagher, who was listed as a co-host of the DeSantis mixer, told Insider ahead of time not to expect any immediate outpouring of support.
"This is not an endorsement," the Gallagher campaign staffer stressed, adding that the Wisconsin Republican planned to swing by, as time permitted, to chat about China, communism, and some of the House oversight investigations.
He came with an agenda. Some elected officials who popped by the DeSantis gathering raced out of there like it was a timeshare presentation.
"They just want to hear him," Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas told reporters, after running a gauntlet of protestors who chanted "Meatball Ron, go home!" and "DC don't like fascists," at everyone who emerged from the Heritage Foundation lobby.
Several attendees, including Reps. Crenshaw, Bob Good of Virginia, and Blake Moore of Utah, said DeSantis never mentioned running for president and didn't explicitly fish for endorsements.
Even if DeSantis had tried that, Crenshaw noted that he has no plans to endorse anyone in the GOP presidential primary, so that was off the table.
Sen. Cynthia Lummis, who has previously said how much she enjoyed serving with DeSantis while they were both in the House of Representatives, showed up towards the tail end of Tuesday's meeting and didn't stay long.
"He and I just had a nice chat among old friends. That was it," Lummis told Insider.
She added that she hadn't heard any talk of presidential campaigns or hard-sells about endorsements.
"I missed his speech. But it's just fun to catch up," Lummis said.
REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger