Last Updated on February 15, 2024
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s return to Florida after his failed presidential run and preceding “book tour” that took him out of the state and all over the country on a full-time basis has been met with little enthusiasm from Florida Republicans, who face budgetary issues with federal COVID money “drying up” and an insurance industry crisis worse than any state in the country.
Ron DeSantis has been “ignored” by Florida Republicans since returning to Florida after conceding 2024’s GOP Presidential Primary and getting behind 45th President Trump as he swats down Nikki Haley, the report from Newsweek says.
But not being Mr. Popularity in his home state may be the least of DeSantis’s problems there, as the report goes on to mention the “ongoing insurance crisis in Florida” that is set to get even worse as “federal pandemic funds are drying up.”
In other words, the report suggests that DeSantis has been propping his state up with federal COVID money, something he often spoke out against during the presidential campaign, and now his scheme is in jeopardy of crashing down with a decrease in federal welfare on the horizon.
“Florida homeowners are currently paying premiums up to an average of $6,000 per year, the highest rates in the entire country,” the Newsweek report explains, adding that “DeSantis and his administration have been blamed for not doing enough to fix the situation.”
And DeSantis’s image among Florida Republicans is taking a hit on more than just his alleged inaction on the insurance issues and his reliance on COVID money – his ability to influence the direction of the state is also reportedly waning, as DeSantis-backed plans to build a casino in Miami were recently rejected.
“Florida Republicans’ unwillingness to rally around the governor now that he’s back in the state and is proposing new legislation possibly indicates that DeSantis’ influence on the GOP and the state has waned since his doomed run for the presidency,” the report goes on to suggest.
Related: Ron DeSantis Signed COVID Law Allowing Forced Injections by ‘Any Means Necessary’
News of DeSantis’s problems in Florida is accompanied by similar issues for anti-Trump Republicans all over the country, who have tried to come back into the America First fold since their futile attempt at unseated Trump as the presumptive 2024 GOP Presidential nominee.
As a result of the split that the DeSantis camp created, the House Freedom Caucus, several members of which, including Reps. Bob Good (VA) and Chip Roy (TX) backed DeSantis, appears to have lost much of its juice, and its highest-ranking members face primary challenges thanks to their turning against Trump.
But public pushback hasn’t stopped many of the Team DeSantis veterans from slithering back into Trump Land, including Steve Cortes, who wrote a dramatic op-ed announcing his renewed support for Trump, after being blasted several months earlier for defecting to the DeSantis side.
As National File Reported:
“I was wrong,” former Trump adviser turned Never Back Down PAC spokesman Steve Cortes, who stepped down from the pro-DeSantis PAC back in October, wrote in the op-ed.
“Those of us who backed Ron DeSantis – or the other Republican candidates – should read the room,” he added, citing Trump’s massive win in Iowa and his big leads in the polls in every other state, before calling on his former anti-Trump comrades to stop attacking him with “Democrat Party-like talking points.”
They “only dilute the power of our cause as we head toward November,” Cortest wrote.
“How do we save America?” he went on to ask.
“It is time to unify behind former President Trump as he leads the battle against the ruling class and the oligarchs intent on destroying the American way of life,” he answered. “I implore all patriotic populists to join as I pledge to do all I can to work for Trump’s cause, just as I proudly did in 2016 and 2020.”
Read More: Ex-DeSantis Spokesman Admits ‘Only Trump Can Save America’
