About a dozen protesters playing songs from Public Enemy and chanting Disney-related insults gathered in Washington, D.C., Tuesday in an attempt to heckle Ron DeSantis, who was meeting and mingling with Republican lawmakers inside a building less than a mile from the U.S. Capitol.
The governor has a bigger problem on his hands this week than a handful of angry critics.
DeSantis was making a rare visit to the nation’s capital just as a growing number of Republican lawmakers — including many from Florida’s congressional delegation — publicly endorsed former President Donald Trump. One day after Rep. Greg Steube of Florida endorsed Trump, Rep. John Rutherford followed suit. So did Rep. Brian Mast, according to CNN.
Even a GOP lawmaker who said he met with DeSantis, Rep. Lance Gooden of Texas, announced he was nonetheless backing Trump in the 2024 presidential race.
“I met with Governor DeSantis, and while he has done commendable work in Florida, there is no doubt in my mind that President Trump is the only leader who can save America from the leftist onslaught we are currently facing,” Gooden said in a statement.
The endorsements have come at a difficult if early political moment for the Florida Republican, who has watched Trump’s support among GOP voters swell even as he encounters criticism — including from some of his own supporters — that he hasn’t managed the early portion of the Republican primary especially well.
DeSantis, a former member of Florida’s congressional delegation himself, has not yet declared if he will run for president in 2024, though at least one lawmaker who saw him in Washington said he alluded to a future campaign in his remarks.
The governor, however, has had some of his own endorsements, including from U.S. Reps. Chip Roy from Texas and Thomas Massie from Kentucky, both of whom helped host the Washington event with DeSantis on Tuesday.
His super PAC, Never Back Down, also announced another endorsement for the governor on Tuesday: U.S. Rep. Laurel Lee, who served as Florida’s secretary of state. She is the first member of Florida’s congressional delegation to back DeSantis, compared to seven who have endorsed Trump.
Lawmakers estimated there were between a dozen and two dozen GOP lawmakers who attended the event. As they left the event in Washington, some lawmakers who remain neutral in the 2024 primary praised the governor.
DeSantis is “quite a guy,” said Rep. Dan Mueser of Pennsylvania.
“He’s done a great job as governor,” Meuser said. “So he’s a significant Republican leader, and we’ll see if he’s going to enter the presidency.”
Asked if DeSantis talked about running for president, the congressman said he “alluded to the idea that he’s giving it real consideration.”
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