State Rep. Sabatini calls for renaming US 27 the Donald J. Trump Highway
State Rep. Anthony Sabatini wants to rename U.S. Highway 27 in Florida the President Donald J. Trump Highway.
“Looking forward to working on this important designation honoring one of the greatest Presidents in American History,” Sabatini, R-Howey-in-the-Hills, wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
Sabatini told the Orlando Sentinel on Wednesday he chose U.S. 27, which in Florida stretches from Miami to the Georgia state line north of Tallahassee, because it runs through his home district in Lake County.
“It’s one of the most historic highways and one of the longest highways which goes through pretty much the whole state,” Sabatini said. “I just think it’s a pretty good choice.”
Sabatini said he would offer the proposal as an amendment to the one or two large “catch-all” transportation bills that are usually passed by the Legislature in each session.
The idea drew immediate criticism and jokes on Twitter. Parkland gun reform activist David Hogg mocked Trump’s “Drain the Swamp” chant, calling the proposal, “A highway that runs straight through the swamp that blocks the flow of the water, effectively filling up the swamp. NICE.”
Another commenter gave the proposal as one more reason they don’t return to the state.
“Everyone: do you think you’ll ever move back to Florida?” the commenter wrote. “Florida: ... ‘the Donald J. Trump Highway.’ ”
“Was ‘Trail of Tears’ taken?” asked a commenter.
Others, however, backed Sabatini’s idea.
“Yes Sir! I like this,” wrote one. “Bold move. I like it,” wrote another.
Sabatini dismissed the Twitter criticism as “bots and fake profiles ... I don’t really look at that as serious feedback. The people that have given me feedback, who are registered voters in Florida, are wildly in favor of it.”
He called Hogg a member of the “radical left.”
Other roads in Florida have been named for recent presidents. Florida’s Turnpike is also officially known as the Ronald Reagan Turnpike, though it’s rarely called that. In 2009, the Orlando City Council also renamed a short section of Mission Road in West Orlando the Barack Obama Parkway.
But whether the proposal will get approved, even in Trump’s new home state, is unclear.
Asked if he had any comment on Sabatini’s idea, Democratic state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith simply responded, “No.”
Sabatini has garnered headlines in his four years in office for his sometimes outlandish remarks.
In November, he called for Kyle Rittenhouse, charged with two counts of murder during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to run for Congress. In May, he posted a picture of an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle in a tweet directed at Black Lives Matter protesters.