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GOP congressman Greg Stuebe is the latest Florida Republican to state they will be endorsing Donald Trump's 2024 campaign rather than potentially back Governor Ron DeSantis.
Steube, who represents Florida's 17th Congressional District, confirmed he is backing the former president during an appearance on Newsmax Monday.
"We need to write all the wrongs that have happened under this administration, fix the things that happen in Afghanistan, support our military and our veterans and do the things that the 'American first' agenda stands for, and that is one person: Donald Trump," Steube said.
Stuebe is the latest member of Florida's state congressional delegation to confirm they will be supporting Trump, with reps. Anna Paulina Luna, Matt Gaetz, Cory Mills and Byron Donalds, a close ally of DeSantis, all recently confirming their endorsements of the former president.
In comparison, DeSantis, who has not announced he is running for president in 2024 but is expected to do so soon, has received no official endorsements from any current Florida lawmaker.
DeSantis has long been thought to be Trump's biggest challenger in the GOP presidential primaries, with several polls suggesting he is the preferred candidate for GOP voters heading into 2024, albeit these surveys are increasingly in the minority with Trump still the overwhelming favorite to clinch the nomination.
While DeSantis is not yet an official 2024 candidate, with the first first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primary caucus in Iowa not taking place until February 2024, the Florida governor currently only has two sitting members of Congress who said they will back his bid for the White House: Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Texas' Chip Roy.
DeSantis is widely popular with GOP voters in the Sunshine State, as seen with his crushing re-election victory over Democrat Charlie Christ in November 2022.
However, DeSantis would hope that any 2024 campaign would need as many political wins as possible if he is to overcome Trump in the primary, with support from his own party in his home state a potential boost.
Prior to Steube's words on Trump, NBC News reported that DeSantis' team had been calling Republican members of the Florida congressional delegation and asking them to hold off announcing their 2024 endorsements.
The reports, based on anonymous sources, suggested that DeSantis' team had reached out to six GOP Florida members of Congress—Stuebe, as well as reps. Aaron Bean, Vern Buchanan, Kat Cammack, Mario Diaz-Balart and Laurel Lee—asking them not to announce their 2024 backings just yet.
"There is clearly some angst from the DeSantis camp that so many members of the state's congressional delegation are throwing their support behind Trump," a GOP consultant for one of the members contacted by DeSantis' team told NBC News.
"Gaetz going with Trump is one thing, but Byron's endorsement of the former president undoubtedly rattled some cages."
DeSantis' office has been contacted for comment via email.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more