Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday shot down an attempt from fellow Republicans in his state to allow taxpayer money to help pay for Donald Trump’s legal fees.
Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer, had backed a bill that would have established a “Freedom Fighters Fund” to “provide up to $5 million in financial support to Florida residents running for President who face legal, partisan, political attacks by the Department of Justice or State Attorneys.” Referring to Trump as a “Florida Man,” Patronis said in a news release that supporting a “Florida candidate for the White House” is “just good from a dollars and cents perspective.”
State Sen. Ileana Garcia, a Miami Republican and Trump supporter, had filed the bill, titled “Grants for Victims of Political Discrimination.”
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On Monday, the push for the legislation quickly unraveled. Responding to a Politico story about the bill with the headline “Some Florida Republicans want taxpayers to pay Trump’s legal bills,” DeSantis wrote on X: “But not the Florida Republican who wields the veto pen…”
Later Monday, Garcia announced that she planned to withdraw her support. “This bill was filed on January 5th amidst a crowded primary, including two Florida residents,” she wrote. “My concern was the political weaponization against conservative candidates, and while [Patronis] brought me this bill at a time when all candidates were committing to campaign through the primary, one frontrunner now remains, and he can handle himself.”
DeSantis finally ended his own presidential campaign over the weekend and endorsed Trump despite being subjected to months of humiliating abuse by the former president. As a mercy for the Florida governor curtailing his White House ambitions, Trump said he’d stop calling him “DeSanctimonious.”
