Trump touts Palm Coast’s Ron DeSantis for governor
TALLAHASSEE – U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, a Palm Coast Republican who continues to mull a bid for governor, drew Twitter praise Friday from President Donald Trump, who flew to Palm Beach for the Christmas holiday.
“Congressman Ron DeSantis is a brilliant young leader, Yale and then Harvard Law, who would make a GREAT Governor of Florida. He loves our Country and is a true FIGHTER!,” Trump tweeted.
DeSantis’ campaign team called the president’s tweet an endorsement.
“I’m grateful to have the President’s support and appreciate what he has done — from appointing great judges to recognizing Jerusalem as Israel’s capital to signing a pro-growth tax cut — to get our country back on track,” DeSantis said in a prepared statement. “As an Iraq veteran, I’m especially appreciative of his efforts to support our military and our veterans.”
DeSantis, who has a campaign account open with the Federal Elections Commission to run again for his U.S. House seat, hasn’t opened an account to run for governor.
Brad Herold, of the Ponte Vedra Beach-based Ron DeSantis for Florida, said in an email Friday that the congressman will “make a decision when the time is right.”
While DeSantis hasn’t opened a campaign account for the governor’s race, he has a state political committee, the Fund for Florida’s Future, which started raising money in May and had about $2 million on hand as of Nov. 30.
The White House media pool reported that Trump’s tweet Friday followed an appearance by DeSantis on Fox News, which was aired on Air Force One during the flight.
“Fox News, which played on cabin TVs, featured a segment with Rep. DeSantis toward the end of the flight,” the report said.
DeSantis is among a handful of Republican lawmakers who have openly pushed to curtail Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into alleged Trump campaign ties to Russia. This month, DeSantis accompanied Trump to Pensacola for a campaign rally supporting Republican Roy Moore’s failed bid for the U.S. Senate in Alabama.