Ron DeSantis hasn’t asked for Trump’s endorsement — and doesn’t plan to: report

Rep. Charlie Crist, a former Florida governor and ex-Republican turned Democrat, has been endorsed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Florida’s 2022 gubernatorial race — while on the Republican side, incumbent Gov. Ron DeSantis has been endorsed by Sen. Rick Scott (another former Florida governor) and right-wing organizations that include Americans for Prosperity and the Club for Growth.

But one endorsement that DeSantis hasn’t received is one from former President Donald Trump. DeSantis, according to reporting in Politico, has not asked for Trump’s endorsement — and he doesn’t plan to.

“Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has plenty of advantages ahead of his November reelection: more than $100 million in the bank, a growing statewide Republican voter advantage, massive popularity with the conservative base,” Politico’s Gary Fineout explains in an article June 22. “What DeSantis doesn’t need and isn’t requesting: former President Donald Trump’s endorsement.”

Fineout continues, “According to four people connected to the governor and former president, DeSantis has not asked Trump for a formal endorsement and isn’t planning to. It’s a clear sign that DeSantis, who more than four years ago was a little-known congressman from northeast Florida, has risen high in the GOP stratosphere.”

DeSantis is a polarizing figure in U.S. politics. Although liberals, progressives, centrist Democrats and Never Trump conservatives generally detest him, DeSantis is wildly popular with the Republican Party’s far-right MAGA base. In that sense, DeSantis is a lot like Trump himself, inspiring either contempt or adoration — but not a lot of ambivalence.

If Crist wins Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination — the primary elections will be held on Aug. 23 — he will face an uphill climb in the general election. Countless pundits are predicting that 2022 will bring a major red wave like the ones in 1994 and 2010, and DeSantis’ supporters are fired up.

“DeSantis’ reluctance to seek the former president’s public support comes as the Florida governor prepares for a likely 2024 White House bid, even if Trump also runs in 2024 — setting up a potential clash between two powerful figures in the GOP,” Fineout reports.

Republicans running in the 2022 midterms, especially in red states, appear terrified of saying or doing anything that might offend Trump — and many of them have been pleading for Trump’s endorsement. But DeSantis is one MAGA Republican who, according to Politico, appears confident that he can win reelection without Trump’s help.

While Trump and DeSantis aren’t openly attacking one another, Trump is taking some mild potshots at the Florida governor here and there. Trump, discussing the 2024 election, recently commented, “I don’t know if Ron is running, and I don’t ask him. It’s his prerogative. I think I would win.” Fineout notes that during a recent appearance on Fox News’ “Fox and Friends,” DeSantis “sidestepped questions about his plans for 2024 and whether he would refrain from running for president if Trump seeks another term.”

Nina Lakhani, in an article published by The Guardian on June 21, notes, “The governor’s rising star and declining interest in hanging out with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, are fueling resentment among the former president’s inner circle.”

A Republican political consultant, interviewed anonymously, told The New Yorker, “Trumpworld is working overtime to find ways to burn DeSantis down. They really hate him.”

But when Trump appeared on Newsmax TV on June 20, he said, “I have a good relationship with Ron. I don’t know that he wants to run (for president). I haven’t seen that. You’re telling me something that I’ve not seen, so we’ll see what happens. But no, I was very responsible for getting him elected.”