President Donald Trump doubled down on his support of U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., to be Florida’s next governor.
Trump took to Twitter on Friday morning to praise DeSantis who is trailing Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam in most polls of the Republican primary.
“Congressman Ron DeSantis, a top student at Yale and Harvard Law School, is running for governor of the great state of Florida,” Trump posted on Twitter. “Ron is strong on borders, tough on crime & big on cutting taxes – loves our military & our vets. He will be a great governor & has my full endorsement!
Even before DeSantis entered the primary, Trump praised the Northeast Florida congressman.
“Congressman Ron DeSantis is a brilliant young leader, Yale and then Harvard Law, who would make a GREAT governor of Florida,” Trump posted on Twitter back in December. “He loves our country and is a true FIGHTER!”
DeSantis will be trying to highlight his ties to Trump and his allies on Saturday as he hits parts of North Florida with one of the president’s biggest defenders on Capitol Hill.
On Saturday, DeSantis will hit Ponte Vedra, Lake City and Ocala with U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., who has also been applauded by Trump.
Last month, Gaetz penned an op-ed that ran at Breitbart in which he praised DeSantis and accused Putnam of being a “Trump shade-thrower” and accused him
“Adam Putnam’s ‘Never Trump’ attitude has been overtaken only by his ambition to be governor,” Gaetz insisted. “After Trump secured the nomination, Putnam was asked if he would endorse Trump. His snarky reply: ‘I don’t envision a scenario where I would endorse Trump prior to the convention, and we’ll see what the convention yields’
“Putnam at one point even used Vice President Pence as an opportunity to take shots at Trump’s character, consistency, and conservatism,” Gaetz added. When asked to compare Pence to Trump Putnam responded, ‘He’d be about 180 degrees different. Mike Pence is a level, steady, consistent guy who is well-read, conservative rooted in sort of the founding philosophical documents of conservatism.’While the Democrats were throwing the kitchen sink at Trump, the Hillary attack machine could always count on Adam Putnam to echo their narrative. ‘It makes me question how badly he [Trump] wants to win. He keeps running his mouth about the most ridiculous things…’ During the same interview Putnam was asked if he will support Trump in November and he said, ‘I think I’ve said all I need to say about Trump today.’”
Most polls have shown Putnam with the lead over DeSantis and other GOP hopefuls with two months to go until the primary though almost half of Florida Republicans remain undecided.