Elected Republicans Have No Reason to Endorse DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis gives remarks at the Heritage Foundation's 50th Anniversary Leadership Summit on April 21, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

As Donald Trump’s list of endorsements grows, so does the despair of his critics.

“The Republican Party has barely tried anything in their effort to move on and they are already out of ideas,” an exasperated Tim Miller wrote last week. Trump locking up the support of much of Florida’s House caucus under Ron DeSantis’ nose was bad enough; worse, to Miller, was Sen. Steve Daines and former Rep. Lee Zeldin lining up behind the former guy.

Zeldin nearly got elected governor of New York, might plausibly become RNC chairman some day, and was cracked up at one point to have a lead role in DeSantis’ presidential campaign. Daines is the head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the group in charge of recruiting and electing Republican candidates for Senate. He and Zeldin are influential leaders within the GOP establishment in different ways—and here they were endorsing Trump before DeSantis had even officially declared his candidacy.

“This is f—ing madness!” Miller exclaimed at one point in his piece.

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