As Trump continues to gain endorsements, Ron DeSantis travels to South Carolina

Ron DeSantis makes his first run in the South Carolina primary on Wednesday as he continues to lose an endorsement battle with former President Donald Trump.

The Florida governor, who has not yet announced he is running for president despite all indications that he intends to do so, will speak in North Charleston and Spartanburg for his Florida blueprint.

Visits by well-known politicians to South Carolina, along with Iowa and New Hampshire, indicate that they are weighing the presidential bid.

Before heading to South Carolina, DeSantis made a familiar stop at the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday to meet with lawmakers where he once served as the Florida congressman. He will also return to the nation’s capital on Friday to deliver remarks at the Heritage Foundation Leadership Summit.

while. Trump continues to gain support for him in the 2024 White House election from lawmakers in Washington – including several members of the Republican delegation in Florida.

After a face-to-face meeting with Texas Rep. Lance Godden, who said he had a “positive meeting,” Trump endorsed

After walking away from his meetings on Tuesday, two more Republicans gathered their endorsements of the former president on the wildly popular governor in their state.

Representatives Brian Mast of Florida and Lance Gooden of Texas said they would support Trump’s primary. Even after Gooden said he had a “positive” face-to-face meeting with DeSantis on Tuesday.

This brings the total number of endorsements for Trump to seven of the 20 Republican members of Congress from Florida.

Florida Republican Rep. Greg Steub, who also endorsed Trump over DeSantis and recently made headlines for a freak incident where he fell off a ladder, said the governor never called or responded to him during his time in the House.

The congressman told Politico that he made multiple attempts to reach out to DeSantis and said he was snubbed from being able to stand by the governor during an event about Hurricane Ian.

DeSantis has one official endorsement from a Florida lawmaker, despite not being officially in the race yet. Representative Laurel Lee is a congresswoman who previously served as Florida Secretary of State under DeSantis.

Texas Rep. Chip Roy and Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massey also endorsed DeSantis.

Trump has so far received 45 endorsements in the House of Representatives and nine in the Senate.

Despite bleeding endorsements for Trump, the governor still seems to be pushing his best toward a presidential run.

Trump and DeSantis are widely seen as the front runners for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination — though DeSantis has yet to announce a bid.

Seven of the 20 Republican House of Representatives in Florida have already endorsed Trump – and that includes Representatives Brian Mast (left) and Greg Steubi (right)

Already in the Palmetto state there are two local candidates vying for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination — former governor Nikki Haley, who also served as Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations, and Senator Tim Scott, who has not launched a formal bid but announced a decision. Presidential Exploration Commission earlier this month.

Despite this, DeSantis still ranks second in the polls in South Carolina — bested only by Trump. However, one poll showed Haley trailing the wildly popular Florida leader by just 2 percent.

Trump claimed that if DeSantis launched a formal bid, he would be “disloyal,” since his support for the former congressman in 2018 helped propel him into the office where he currently works.

The former president also made a habit of calling and referring to the Florida governor “DeSanctimonious,” and criticized him in multiple posts on his Truth Social platform.