Posts tagged with "Florida Governor Ron DeSantis"

Above, former President Donald Trump. (Image source: Damon Winter/The New York Times)

Trump pledges to get revenge on Ron DeSantis’s backers

March 3, 2023

Several former supporters of ex-President Donald Trump attended a donor retreat hosted by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the last weekend in February and—after learning who was in attendance—Trump has promised retribution, reports Newsweek.

The former president launched his third run for the White House last November; and many 2024 polls suggest his main rival for the Republican nomination is DeSantis, who has yet to reveal his plans. In most polls, Trump ranks above potential opponents—including DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence; and Nikki Haley, who announced her bid in February.

The DeSantis donor event took place in Palm Beach, just a few miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort where the former president held his own gathering on Thursday, February 23, according to CBS News.

The guests at the DeSantis gathering included Roy Bailey, who was national co-chair of Trump’s fundraising effort with the Republican National Committee in 2020,; and Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s White House chief of staff for 14 months.

However, the name on the guest list that most seemed to perturb Trump was David McIntosh. The former U.S. representative is now the president of the Club for Growth, a conservative nonprofit that advocates for tax cuts. The organization opposed Trump’s campaign for the Republican nomination in 2016.

Trump singled out McIntosh in a post on Truth Social late on Tuesday night, February 28, aiming jabs at the former lawmaker and his advocacy group.

“Failed former Congressman David McIntosh and his Globalist friends at Club for No Growth, who fought me all the way in 2016, and LOST, and then fought me again in 2020 Senate Races in Ohio, Alabama, North Carolina, New Hampshire, plus more, and LOST AGAIN, are now threatening to spend money against me early because their new boy, Ron DeSanctus, the man who wants to cut Social Security and MediCare, has dropped so drastically in the Polls to me,” he wrote. “No Growth Members know there will be RETRIBUTION!!!”

Some Republican  have voiced concern over Trump becoming the GOP nominee in 2024—suggesting that the former president is a distraction and more divisive than other primary candidates.

Lori Davis, who worked on Trump’s 2016 campaign in New Hampshire, said his critical and judgmental approach had turned some supporters against him. “I like Donald Trump. But he has gone too far polarizing. It’s going to be an uphill battle for him in this primary because of his divisiveness. People are tired of the drama,” Davis said.

“I’m seeing that people want DeSantis. He has a lot of the Trump philosophy, but is not as bombastic,; he’s not attacking people 24/7. People are tired of that. It gives them headaches.”

However, poll tracker FiveThirtyEight still shows Trump leading DeSantis in the race for the 2024 Republican nomination. In a compilation that includes research by YouGov, Emerson College, Morning Consult, and Echelon Insights, Trump is in front of DeSantis in every head-to-head, sometimes by as many as 30 percentage points.

Research contact: @Newsweek

Above, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) (Photo source: Douglas R. Clifford/Tampa Bay Times and Greg Nash/The Hill)

Trump trails DeSantis and Cheney in Utah poll of possible 2024 GOP contenders

December 6, 2022

Former President Donald Trump trails Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and outgoing Representative Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming) in a new Utah poll of possible GOP contenders for the 2024 presidential race, reports The Hill. 

 

A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll of 802 registered Utah voters conducted between November 18 and 23 found that DeSantis with a decisive lead in a hypothetical Republican presidential primary, at 24.2%; followed by Cheney, with 16.4%.

 

Trump came in third place with 14.6%—nearly 2 points below Cheney and nearly 10 points behind the Florida governor—the latest indication that the former president’s popularity may be slipping. 

 

However, more Utah voters said they didn’t know which candidate they’d cast their ballot for (20.7%) than backed either Trump or Cheney. 

 

Cheney lost her House reelection bid during this year’s midterms to a Trump-backed challenger after she drew the former president’s ire for her efforts to impeach and investigate him for his role in the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol riot. 

 

Trump was more popular than Cheney among self-identified Republicans—earning 21.1% to Cheney’s 10%—but DeSantis still emerged ahead in that group with 33.1%. The Florida governor has long been seen as a top potential challenger to Trump for the GOP nomination, and saw his stock rise further after a blowout reelection win last month.

 

Some recent polls have shown DeSantis closing the national gap with Trump, and online betting markets also are now favoring DeSantis over Trump to take the 2024 White House—although the Florida governor still says he is focused on his current job.

 

The GOP saw disappointing midterm results in November—failing to take control of the Senate and winning the House by a smaller-than-expected margin. A number of Trump’s hand-picked candidates lost out in key races. 

 

Above, former President Donald Trump announces he will run for president again in the grand ballroom at Mar-a-Lago, on Tuesday, November15. (Photo source: Mark Peterson for Politico)

Republicans shrug off Trump ’24 bid: ‘The excitement’s just not there’

November 29, 2022

The former president is not bending the GOP to his will the way he used to. Donald Trump’s lackluster campaign announcement on November 15 was one thing. His real problem is fast becoming the collective shrug Republicans have given him in the week-plus since, reports Politico.

Far from freezing out potential competitors, Trump’s announcement was followed by a slew of potential 2024 contenders appearing at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas over the weekend, where at least one Republican who previously had said she would defer to Trump if he ran—former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley—now said she is considering running in a “serious way.”

A super PAC supporting Trump’s chief rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, plans to begin airing TV ads in Iowa on Friday, December 2. And even the news that Elon Musk was lifting Trump’s ban on Twitter wasn’t breaking through.

The morning after the former president’s account was reinstated—a development once viewed as a significant lift to Trump’s candidacy—Fox News Sunday spent more time talking about the ticketing debacle surrounding Taylor Swift’s upcoming tour.

“The people talking about [Trump’s campaign announcement] in my circles, it’s almost like it didn’t happen,” said Bob Vander Plaats, the evangelical leader in Iowa who is influential in primary politics in the first-in-the-nation caucus state and who was a national co-chair of Senator Ted Cruz’s campaign in 2016. Donald“That, to me, is what is telling, where people believe we probably need to move forward; not look in the rear view mirror.”

Ever since he steamrolled through the 2016 presidential primary, and even after his defeat four years later, Trump had bent the GOP to his will—reshaping the party’s infrastructure in Washington, D.C., and the states to serve his interests, tearing down Republican dynasties, and hand-picking congressional and statewide nominees.Se

Now, leading Republicans are no longer cowering before Trump, and for the first time since he rode down the escalator in 2015, many aren’t listening to him at all. They are dodging questions about Trump’s candidacy, or openly defying him by rallying around DeSantis—even though the Florida governor is not yet, as Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming declared, the “leader of the Republican Party.”

“There’s a significant number of people out there who really are opposed to him, and I don’t think will change their minds over the course of the next two years,” said Tom Tancredo, a former Republican congressman and anti-illegal immigration crusader from Colorado who called Trump “one of the best presidents we’ve ever had.”

He added, “You can’t deny that that’s a problem for him … I’m worried about his electability, surely.”

However, Trump may still be the frontrunner to win the GOP nomination. In a Politico/Morning Consult poll this week, Trump was still running 15 percentage points ahead of DeSantis among Republicans and Republican-leaning Independents. If a wide field of more traditionalist Republicans split the primary vote in early nominating states, as they did in 2016, Trump could still cut through his competitors with less-than-majority support.

“His unique selling point is, ‘I did this, I fixed the economy, I gave you the Abraham Accords, I kept peace, I fixed the border with no help from the Washington politicians,’” said one Republican strategist close to Trump.

Trump’s path, the strategist said, is to remind Republicans what they liked about his presidency, and to emphasize that, unlike his competitors, he has “done it before.”

What Trump also has done, however, is lose—and drag the GOP down with him. Following a midterm election in which Republicans failed to retake the Senate, the GOP is desperate for a win in 2024. And while presidential primaries are always colored to some degree by concerns about electability, the earliest stages of the 2024 contest, as one longtime GOP operative in Iowa put it, are “just about winning.”

Research contact: @politico

Above, Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and California's Democratic GovernorGavin Newsom. (Photo source: Disneyland News Today)

New Jersey governor weighs in on California’s Newsom attacking DeSantis in Florida: ‘I like it’

July 6, 2022

New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy  is putting his support behind California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom’s new TV ad, running in Florida; which targets the Sunshine State’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and invites Floridians to move to California, reports The Hill. 

 In an appearance on CNN’s “New Day” on Tuesday, June 5, Murphy said he liked his fellow Democratic governor’s approach when asked by host Brianna Keilar about Newsom’s 30-second ad slamming DeSantis over a wave of new legislation targeting LGBTQ rights, voting rights, critical race theory, and abortion. 

 “I think we need to stand up and be counted and make sure we remind folks around the country, if

Above, New Jersey’s Democratic Governor Phil Murphy. (Photo source: Safety and Health )

you value values, come to states like New Jersey and I suspect that’s exactly what Governor Newsom has in mind in terms of California’s values,” Murphy said.

He said the United States is still “the greatest nation on Earth” but that “war has been declared by a right-wing Supreme Court bloc against American women” with the court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade’s constitutional protections for abortion rights.

He also criticized the court for a decision last month that rejected a New York law preventing people from carrying concealed weapons. Murphy said the country had done too little to prevent gun violence in the wake of the latest shooting on the Fourth of July in Highland Park, Illinois. 

“And look at the tragedy that happened yesterday in a Highland Park. So we are a great nation but we are in challenging troubled times right now. And women especially are paying a huge price,” he added.

Murphy also spoke about the two bills he signed into law on Friday, which ensure that out-of-state residents who come to New Jersey can access reproductive services and reproductive healthcare providers. 

Research contact: @thehill

Above, the former president (left) and President Joe Biden. (Photo source:ntv.uganda)

Biden leads Trump, DeSantis by similar margins in new poll

January 28, 2022

President Joe Biden is leading two top Republicans—former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis—in two hypothetical, head-to-head match-ups for the 2024 presidential election, reports The Hill

A poll just conducted by Marquette University Law School has found that 43% of U.S. adults would support Biden if the 2024 presidential election were held today, while 33% would vote for Trump in a one-on-one match-up. Sixteen percent said they would choose a different candidate, while 6 percent said they would not vote.

In a hypothetical race against DeSantis, however, Biden does not poll as strongly: 41%t of adults nationwide said they would throw their support behind Biden, while 33% would support DeSantis. Eighteen percent of respondents said they would vote for a different candidate, and 8 percent said they would not cast a ballot.

Only 29% of those polled said they want to see Trump run for president again in 2024, while 71% said they did not want to see him seek a second term.

The polling comes as tensions between Trump and DeSantis are mounting amid a possibility that the two GOP figures could face off against one another in a Republican primary to lead the ticket in 2024.

Trump has been grumbling behind the scenes for months regarding DeSantis’s rise in the party. Recent media reports have taken a microscope to the relationship between the two GOP leaders—one that has been characterized as confrontational and marked by private but personal attacks.

The former president appeared to knock DeSantis earlier this month for refusing to disclose if he has received his COVID-19 booster shot. Trump, during an interview, criticized “gutless” politicians who will not reveal their booster shot status.

Trump and DeSantis have not revealed if they will launch bids for the White House in 2024. Additionally, the Florida governor has refused to say publicly whether he will or will not challenge the former president should he wage a reelection campaign.

A Harvard CAPS-Harris Poll survey shared with The Hill earlier this week found that, in a hypothetical eight-person GOP primary, Trump raked in 57% support, followed by DeSantis at 11% and former Vice President Mike Pence at 11%. No other candidate in the poll pulled in double-digit support.

Biden in December said he plans to run for reelection “if I’m in good health.”

A Wednesday poll from Politico and Morning Consult found that 45% of registered voters would support Biden if the election were held today, and 44% would support Trump—which would make for a tight rematch. Eleven percent said they would not vote.

The Marquette Law School poll surveyed 1,000 adults nationwide between January 10 and January 21.

Research contact: @thehill

Above, Ken Averett Clark at Powerhouse Gym in Ft. Lauderdale before the lockdown. (Photo source: #kenaverettclark/Instagram)

Blood, sweat, and tears: Reopening gyms is tearing a South Florida city apart

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May 21, 2020

Gym rats in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, are earning a reputation as municipal pests, now that their patience is running out and they want to get back to the athletic club, The Daily Beast reports.

For two months, Ken Averett Clark couldn’t lift weights at his local gym in Fort Lauderdale—the city with the third-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Florida. But by late Monday, May 18, the buff 55-year-old was closing in fast on pumping iron in public once again.

“For me, going to the gym is one of the pillars of my mental and physical health,” Clark told The Daily Beast. “I really feel like there is something missing in my life. I understand some people see it as a luxury that I can do without, and could do a home exercise regimen. For me, it’s not the same.” 

On Friday, May 15, Fort Lauderdale Mayor Dean Trantalis decided that exercise junkies like Clark could return to their workout spaces—announcing that commercial health clubs were among the nonessential businesses that would reopen this week with new safety precautions.

But there was one major problem, The Daily Beast notes: Trantalis’s move to reopen gyms came in spite of officials in Broward County—which includes the city—insisting gyms remain closed, at least for now.

At a Monday afternoon press conference in a hotel lobby attended by more than two dozen people, Trantalis asserted that Florida Governor. Ron DeSantis’ executive order allowing gyms to reopen trumped Broward’s directive. “It is our position that gyms can be opened,” Trantalis told reporters. “There is a dispute between the county and the city with regard to that order. As far as we are concerned, we should be able to resolve it by tomorrow.”

When asked if Fort Lauderdale gym owners who moved forward with reopening should be concerned about being shut down or arrested by county law enforcement, Trantalis replied, “No one is going to be arrested.”

But Broward Vice Mayor Steve Geller told The Daily Beast it was “possible” Broward code enforcers and sheriff’s deputies would go to Fort Lauderdale to make sure gyms remain closed until the county says otherwise. County Commissioners voted to send the city a warning letter on Tuesday. “We don’t need to have a confrontation,” Geller said. “I am sure we can work it out. This requires compromise from both parties and not just the county giving in.”

In the Sunshine State, working on one’s summer body is the stuff of obsession. Last week, more than two dozen people performed squats and push-ups sans face masks outside a courthouse in Clearwater, a city in central Florida, as part of a reopening protest. The gym crowd, in other words, is starting to get fed up, and health experts worry that could turn gyms into high-risk contamination zones even as the state’s COVID-19 outlook remains murky at best.

Still, there are Floridians who prefer safety to squatting. Stephanie Lavender, a 56-year-old artist and designer, told The Daily Beast that she was shocked and disappointed Trantalis was moving to reopen gyms ahead of the county’s timeline. “When this first started, the mayor took initiative when others did not,” she told The Daily Beast. “Fort Lauderdale and Miami Beach were among the first cities to do stay-at-home orders and then required masks. I felt safe.” 

She also questioned how gyms would be able to keep equipment clean after every use. “Gyms have the most touch points, even more than a restaurant or bar,” Lavender said. “And people are breathing hard. It’s a strong exhale. I know we have to get back to normal, but this doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the reopening.”

Meanwhile, between May 16 and May 19, Fort Lauderdale recorded 22 new coronavirus cases—bringing the city’s total to 1,465. Overall, Broward saw its total number of cases jump by 121 over the same three-day period. Those are relatively modest totals, but the city’s proximity to the state’s number one hot zone—in Dade County, currently beginning its own reopening process—was not exactly cause for reassurance.

Clark, who is a member of Powerhouse Gym, said he would likely wait a week until after his health club reopened to resume his workout routine. A realtor and a professional actor, Clark said he polled people on his Facebook page about gyms reopening. “I got about 60 responses and almost every single one of them was no,” he said. “I was surprised.”

Research contact: @thedailybeast