Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held an informal meeting of top national donors as well as fellow GOP governors and candidates to ‘get to know each other’ over drinks and cigars as his re-election bid for governor approaches – and while he positions himself for a potential presidential race in Year 2024.
The event in Fort Lauderdale described by sources Politico As “the most significant gathering of Republican governors outside the RGA so far this year,” it featured a number of prominent GOP figures.
Iowa governors Kim Reynolds, Henry McMaster of South Carolina, Kevin State of Oklahoma and Bill Lee of Tennessee were all said to be in attendance, along with gubernatorial candidate of Arkansas, Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, and former governor Maine and current governor. Candidate Paul Lepage and Nevada Senate candidate Adam Laxalt.
The presence of Trump loyalist Lieutenant Huckabee Sanders at the potential former challenger’s meeting may raise eyebrows, as Trump endorsed her candidacy to run for governor of Arkansas.
Conservative media figures include Buck Sexton, Lisa Booth, and Josh Hammer.
The event was seen as an informal and “lightly scheduled” opportunity to connect major donors and conservative media figures with Republican governors and candidates aligned with DeSantis.
The day-long convention served to shore up and consolidate DeSantis’ support base for his upcoming Florida gubernatorial re-election race to keep his seat as Florida governor.
Florida Governor Ron Destantis held an informal meeting of top national donors as well as fellow GOP governors and candidates to ‘get to know each other’ over drinks and cigars as his re-election bid for governor approaches – and while he positions himself for a potential presidential race in 2024
The day-long convention served to shore up and consolidate DeSantis’ support base for his upcoming Florida gubernatorial re-election race to keep his seat as Florida governor. Pictured: DeSantis reaches out to firefighters and dignitaries after accepting the endorsement of Florida professional firefighters in his Florida re-election bid
It included a “getting to know you” session on “drinks and cigars” and panels moderated by DeSantis that introduced the personalities and politics of visiting governors and conservative pundits.
However, any proposed 2024 round would likely see DeSantis appear in direct competition against former President Trump in the presidential primary.
A recent New York Times/Sienna College poll found Trump’s support among GOP voters to be the 2024 presidential nominee in a narrow minority for the first time, with 49 percent saying they want him to be the winner in 2016.
Ron DeSantis was next, but with half the support at 25 percent. However, he is the challenger that party insiders see as the strongest threat to Trump.
There’s a big drop after that, with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz getting support at 7 percent, former Vice President Mike Pence at 6 percent, former South Carolina Gov. and UN Ambassador Nikki Haley at 6 percent, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. by 2 percent.
It was believed that former Trump White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders was present at DeSantis’ informal meeting.
So far, DeSantis has refused to rule out running for president in 2024 when he had the chance, even if it meant running against Trump.
When asked if he would challenge Trump in the primary during an interview with Fox News last month, DeSantis replied, “Nice try, man.”
And there are reports that DeSantis is set to hold another special fundraiser for his gubernatorial re-election campaign next week in Utah that is expected to attract some of the wealthiest Republican donors in the country.
Sources I looked at CNBC For that matter, he asked not to be named due to the fact that DeSantis’ campaign is trying to keep the event, in a state 2,000 miles from Florida, on a low profile and out of Trump’s attention.
A source said the invitations were sent out orally, rather than by email, to reduce any paper trail.
Trump said he aligns with DeSantis, who supported him in 2016, but the former president has made aggressive efforts to assert his dominance within the party, picking candidates in key primaries and trying to defeat Republicans who voted to impeach him.
Trump likes to brag that his endorsement of Republican primary candidates is key to their electoral victories and that he would be a formidable enemy for DeSantis.
Although the governor of Florida is coming to Utah to raise money for his gubernatorial re-election campaign in 2022, fundraisers held in states as far away as Utah often signal patriotic aspirations.
Utah is one of the reddest states in the union, having voted for the Republican nominee in each of the last six elections. They voted for Trump over Biden by 20 percent in 2020.
Trump likes to boast that his endorsement of GOP primary candidates is key to their electoral victories and that he would be a formidable foe for DeSantis, pictured here together during a homecoming campaign rally at the BB&T Center on November 26, 2019 in Sunrise, Florida.
DeSantis’ re-election campaign has already raised $96 million from the Republican giant for the Nov. 8 vote, where he will face a Democratic challenger who will be decided when the Aug. 23 primary takes place.
Former governor Charlie Crist was seen as the strongest candidate, who held a 21-point lead over nearest rival Nikki Fried in June and raised four times as much funding from donors at nearly $8 million.
But the past month has seen Crest’s support collapse, and the latest Real Clear Politics poll put Crest and Fred neck and neck at 39 points apiece.
Media pundits see the Democratic primary as essentially a sideshow, with DeSantis, a nationally known figure and rising star of the Republican Party, re-elected as the likely outcome.
A re-election in November is seen as a vital step in any potential presidential run in 2024.
Ron DeSantis’ team has been contacted for comment.
But former President Trump may face problems of a different nature that must be overcome before he can officially run in 2024.
Representative Liz Cheney said former White House testimony Pat Cipollone “met expectations” while claiming it was “nonsense” to say that former President Trump was misled into believing the election was stolen from him.
The deputy head of the committee is a representative. Liz Cheney (R-W) of the Jan. 6 committee claimed it was ‘bullshit’ to say Trump was misled into believing the election was stolen from him while the committee provided testimony from former White House counsel Pat Cipollone who allegedly told Trump. For assignment after December 14th.
The Jan. 6 commission’s ranking member from Wyoming said yesterday that the commission has seen a “change” in how witnesses and attorneys aligned with Trump have handled the commission’s investigation.
Today, there appears to be general acknowledgment that the commission has established key facts including that everyone close to President Trump — Justice Department officials, his White House advisers, his White House counsel and his campaign — have all told him about the 2020 election, Cheney said.
She said this forced Trump’s lawyer to “change the strategy” of his defense. Now the argument appears to be that President Trump has been manipulated by others outside the administration and that he has been persuaded to ignore his closest advisors and is unable to distinguish between right and wrong.
The committee played a video in which White House counsel Pat Cipollone told them that by mid-December he had urged the former president to drop allegations of election fraud after the court ruled against him.
Did I think he should concede the election at some point? Yes, I did.
