President Donald Trump’s allies are reportedly pushing him to nominate an unexpected figure for attorney general: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Marvel boss Ike Perlmutter are among the friends of both Trump and DeSantis who are calling for the appointment, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Hannity had DeSantis on his program on May 6 to fawn over the Republican governor, praising him for bringing billionaires to Florida.
DeSantis did not deny the push, instead telling the Journal he “hasn’t asked for a job.”
“So it’s not a question of interest or not. I want to help the country, and I want the president to do well, but I think we’ve been able to make a big impact in our job down here,” DeSantis said.
The report comes after claims that DeSantis had “begged” Trump for the job himself over lunch at Trump’s Florida golf club in late April.
“Ron was begging me to be AG,” Trump told one confidante, according to Axios.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DeSantis is term-limited as Florida governor and cannot run again. His term expires in January 2027.
When Pam Bondi was fired as attorney general on April 2, her deputy—Trump’s personal lawyer Todd Blanche—was promoted to Acting Attorney General.
Blanche has used his new position to go after Trump’s personal foes and take up his crusades, leading to speculation he is doing everything he can to impress the president to be appointed permanently.
He led the charge on indicting former FBI director James Comey over an Instagram post. Blanche also created waves when the Southern Poverty Law Center was indicted on charges of fraud and conspiracy.
In promoting his case against the organization, Blanche told Fox News there was no evidence the SPLC had shared information it had gained by paying informants inside extremist organizations with law enforcement.
The SPLC has demanded Blanche retract the statement and alleged that the grand jury that issued the indictment was fed incorrect information.
But Blanche denies he’s currently “auditioning” for the job, telling CBS Mornings: “We work hard every single day. The Department of Justice returns over 100 indictments across this country every single day, making this country safe. And so this narrative, this idea out there, that somehow I’m auditioning—I’ve worked with President Trump for many, many years. I don’t audition for this job. I’ve been the Deputy Attorney General for over a year. OK, this is not an audition.”
According to the Axios report, Blanche has 90 days to impress the president, or the AG job will go to someone else.
