While more than half of Florida’s Republican congressional delegation has endorsed Donald Trump for President at this point, one member in particular has been the most emphatic.
U.S. Rep. Greg Steube continues to litigate his grievances against Gov. Ron DeSantis, and a receptive national audience is proving more than willing to listen.
The Bradenton Republican filled in Fox News Radio listeners on what led him to endorse the former President, and the transactional way the Governor’s team approached him trying to secure his support before that happened.
“Well, part of it was because the DeSantis team started pinging people. Now, I’ve never had a conversation with any of them. I’ve never had a conversation with Gov. DeSantis. Like, he’s never reached out to me. When I’ve tried to reach out to him to discuss issues, I don’t get a response. And suddenly his team is suddenly reaching out,” Steube told host Jimmy Failla.
Steube suggested DeSantis’ camp reached out because the timing was convenient.
“I think it was really their team trying to push people because DeSantis was going to be in Washington this past week. And he was. I’ve always supported the President. I’ve always been Team Trump. I was kind of waiting until things started working out. We have a Governor who hasn’t even announced that he’s running for President,” Steube said. “And so I didn’t really think that the timing needed to happen.”
Of course, the endorsements have fallen the way of the former President in recent days.
“As soon as I got involved and announced my support for the President, then Vern Buchanan did, then Gus Bilirakis did, then John Rutherford did, then Brian Mast did, and we kind of had this flurry of activity because there was so much focus, I think, this past week on those two races.”
The radio hit wasn’t Steube’s only commentary on the process. The Congressman also lambasted Florida legislators Friday on Twitter.
“Sad to see the Florida House and Senate, two bodies I had the honor to serve in, carrying the water for an unannounced presidential campaign,” Steube lamented.
He began his day on Fox News, where he made similar points in an interview with Bill Hemmer.
“There’s been events in my district that I was specifically told (that) I couldn’t be part of the press conference. I was told to go stand in the corner. I was not allowed to be participating in (events) when he was in my district,” Steube said of DeSantis.
“You can’t win friends and influence people that way, especially in the political realm. And, there’s been many things (about which) I’ve reached out to him. I walked up to him, gave him my cell phone number and said, ‘Hey, I need to talk to you about Lake Okeechobee,’ when I first got elected. And not even a person from his staff called me back.”
These gripes really began in earnest Wednesday, when Steube derided DeSantis’ lack of personal touch to POLITICO Playbook. In that interview, he noted “DeSantis political person,” Ryan Tyson, was the point of contact to DeSantis world.
What’s clear: after years of snubbing from the Governor, the Congressman had enough.
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