Under current law, Gov. Ron DeSantis may have to resign his office to run for President. A potential 2024 opponent is raising questions about that potential “flip flop.”
In a memo, the Donald Trump campaign is broaching the question of DeSantis abandoning Tallahassee for a snowy winter in Iowa and New Hampshire.
“Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to campaign full-time for president, during the Florida legislative session, while collecting a salary and having the taxpayers pick up the costs for his travel and security. It’s a massive flip-flop from his position in 2018,” said Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung.
“To make matters worse, DeSantis’ upcoming taxpayer-funded campaign travel appears to put him at odds with Florida’s existing ‘Resign to Run’ law.”
Both House Speaker Paul Renner and Senate President Kathleen Passidomo have said they are open to a DeSantis run, with Renner noting that the legislative position is historically “inconsistent.” The current law requires resignations to be submitted at least 10 days before qualifying to run, with the resignations effective when the officials would take the new offices or when their successors would take office.
The Trump campaign holds that DeSantis is already running for office.
“DeSantis is leaving Florida to campaign in Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, Ohio, New Hampshire, Utah, Texas, (and) South Carolina. DeSantis also plans to visit Israel and the U.K. in April to score some last-minute foreign policy credentials for his 2024 presidential campaign, and it is now being reported that DeSantis will also visit Japan and Korea as part of his taxpayer-funded globetrotting.”
As well, the Trump camp frets that “DeSantis’ upcoming 2024 presidential campaign travel occurs while the Florida Legislature is in-session, and before DeSantis has formed a campaign committee to pay for his travel. This means that in addition to his salary, Florida taxpayers are on the hook for travel and security costs.”
The memo from the Trump campaign comes as a number of Florida members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Cory Mills on Monday, have endorsed Trump over DeSantis. It follows up a Trump Truth Social post that seems to coax DeSantis into abandoning 2024 hopes.
“Ron DeSantis is a young man who is not doing well against me in the polls, to put it mildly. I believe that if he decides to run for President, which will only hurt and somewhat divide the Republican Party, he will lose the cherished and massive MAGA vote, and never be able to successfully run for office again,” Trump wrote Monday.
“If he remains Governor, which is what Florida voters assumed, it would be a whole different story….JUST SAYIN’ – But who knows?”
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