TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida Republicans are feeling more confident than ever in a major victory for their party and presidential nominee come November.
Following the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump and growing unity around him, they believe the swing is officially out of this swing state.
It comes after Florida played center stage at the RNC Tuesday night. A delegation of Sunshine State politicians speaking.
Sen. Rick Scott, Sen. Marco Rubio, and even Gov. Ron DeSantis praised Donald Trump as the right man for the White House, despite a bitter primary between the two.
“America cannot afford four more years of a Weekend at Bernie’s presidency,” DeSantis said during his speech.
For Florida Republicans, it was the moment of unity the party needed. That’s after some had worried the Ron/Don battle earlier this year would undermine the eventual nominee’s performance on election night.
“That's water under the bridge,” said Rep. Alex Rizo (R-Hialeah).
Rizo was one of the 99 Florida lawmakers who initially endorsed DeSantis’ presidential bid. He’s now all in on Trump and feels like his colleagues are too.
“There is a passion here that's palpable,” said Rizo, chair of the Miami-Dade Republicans. “This electricity in the air. Unity is the underlying theme for all of it. Now, the party was united before the assassination itself— I think what happened, obviously, is it just put it into overdrive.”
That feeling of overdrive driving GOP turnout come November, party members hoped. They continue to tout their near-million voter registration lead over Democrats and the inroads made by Hispanic voters. Some now calling a blue swing this election cycle a “farce” as Democrats continue to face questions about President Joe Biden’s stamina after the June debate.
“He had a bad 90 minutes,” said Nikki Fried, Florida Democrats Chair. “We have seen what 3 and a half years of Joe Biden has accomplished for this country.”
Fried said the state party remains behind Biden and that, while Republicans are preaching unity, they’re not showing it. That’s after RNC moments like this in which State Rep. Randy Fine (R-Palm Bay) told a Canadian reporter President Biden could “take his unity and shove it up his ass.”
Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-FL1) also made headlines for interrupting the former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy during a CNN interview, taunting the fellow Republican by asking "What night are you speaking? What night are you speaking? Are you speaking tonight or..."
Fried predicted that Floridians were sick of it.
“Unfortunately, this is the state of the Republican party of Florida, which is fundamentally why, I truly believe that Florida is a winnable state,” she said. “We are purple as long as Florida Democrats continue to show up every single day, continue to be in this fight, and continue carrying the message that Floridians actually care about not the nonsense and chaos that we're seeing by these Republicans in our state."
For now — Florida polling continues to favor the former president over the current. However, the margin, at times, has been tighter than some expected. The latest Telegraph-sponsored poll, conducted just before the attempted shooting on Saturday, had Biden down only four points in Florida when factoring in third-party candidates.
A state report says hundreds of frail elderly nursing home residents were stacked side by side, head to toe in a small church with no working air conditioning or refrigerator during Hurricane Helene.
