Back in the days when the race for the GOP presidential nod was plausibly undecided, Donald Trump Hoovered up endorsements from Florida’s congressional delegation like they were just so many dust bunnies.
Never mind that a good many of them owed their favorable — OK, we’ll say it: gerrymandered — districts to the expert political surgery of Gov. Ron DeSantis. When the moment came to acknowledge their loyalty, all but one bent a knee to the Orange Prince of Mar-a-Lago.
Now we know why, which we will get to in a moment.
Laurel Lee, appointed secretary of state by DeSantis, was elected to Congress from a newly drafted Central Florida district that resembles a St. Bernard in profile. Spread out over three counties — including Plant City, the self-identified strawberry capital of the world — the district draws most of its population from fast-growing upper-middle-class suburbs north and east of Tampa.
She would seem to be an ideal fit: daughter of a two-star U.S. Air Force general; two-time University of Florida graduate; married to a developer-turned-state senator; mom of three; lawyer, federal prosecutor, circuit court judge; statewide supervisor of the 2020 election; now a center-right member of the Republican congressional caucus, a reliable ally of Speaker Mike Johnson. If ever there were a representative designed for a district, it’s Laurel Lee.
But Donald Trump, He Who Must Not Be Crossed, wants her gone. Lee, promoted to statewide prominence by the governor, exercised diligence, judgment and, yes, loyalty — although not the variety understood by Trump — to become the one holdout among elected Floridians in Washington to endorse DeSantis for the GOP presidential nomination.
Never mind that she dutifully hopped aboard the Trump bandwagon when DeSantis suspended his campaign after the Iowa caucuses. Latecomers will not be welcome at the Trump banquet table, apparently.
As for the rest of the Florida GOP caucus: Fear is not a good look. Especially for alleged statesmen and -women.
In MAGA World, it’s unity for me, but not for thee. Dashed off in a fervent moment late on a Palm Sunday, hours before he would compare himself to Christ, Trump the Righteous took to Truth Social to rally believers to take out Rep. Laurel Lee.
🚨Just in: President Trump calls for a primary challenger to Laurel Lee in the Florida’s 15th Congressional District Republican Primary. pic.twitter.com/Aa9Zzov68Y
— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) March 25, 2024
For the record: Come November, Trump is most likely the marginally superior choice in a binary election, especially if voters expel a third of Democrats from both ends of the Capitol. We’ve seen the result of President Trump’s mushy convictions when the Left calls the legislative shots.
Meanwhile, America and the world would be a better place if somebody Gorilla-glued Trump’s thumbs to his palms.
Since Trump’s proclamation, MAGA Faithful who couldn’t have picked Laurel Lee out of a Mrs. America lineup have become instant experts on her alleged shortcomings. She voted for the recent $1.2 trillion spending bill to dodge the government shutdown. She favors continued support for Ukraine in its war with Russia. She is insufficiently conservative.
She didn’t audit Florida’s results in the 2020 presidential election.
Answers to the first three are true, true, and neither is her district (which includes the home office in which this missive is being written).
The answer to the fourth is, once again, MAGA doesn’t know what it’s talking about. Florida law requires audits before and after elections. Lee oversaw them, in accordance with statute, and Trump prevailed handily. What’s the beef? Other than Trump once again ordered up some research-free outrage, and MAGA Minions were eager to comply.
Speaking of whom:
.@RepLaurelLee has 4.8k followers on X.
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) March 25, 2024
I already have the oppo file on her.
Trump wants her gone.
Should I run for Congress, or should I remain an outsider?
Laurel Lee is a vulnerable Republican and I have Name ID and major fundraising prowess in FL.
What do you think? pic.twitter.com/wUkjSs6pwh
Yes, please. The Republican National Committee is broke and the new Trump-approved leadership won’t say flatly that it won’t steer donations to the PAC paying the Orange Prince’s legal fees. So a primary over a safe Republican seat is exactly what the party needs now. Because, you know, Meatball DeSanctus stepped out in lifts with Laurel Lee’s approval. That’s some Monroe Doctrine you guys have working for you.
Put another way:
Of all the stupid, waste of time side quests that MAGA undertakes when I’m told we should be unifying to take on Biden, going after Laurel Lee is about the dumbest thing yet.
— Florida Dad (@FloridadadD) March 25, 2024
As FL SoS she audited the 2020 election, as is done after every election. She supported DeSantis in the…
Call me a hopeless romantic, but I much preferred the days of Ronald Reagan, when Republicans were urged to embrace the 80-percenters as friends and allies grinding toward a common goal.
Instead, the GOP has been commandeered by a latter-day Henry VIII, willing to destroy any and all who choose conscience over claptrap, supported by the same sort of yammering get-along sycophants who made a martyr of that 16th-century Man for All Seasons, Sir Thomas More.
So, sure. Primary Laurel Lee. Chase that pesky squirrel. And lose in another August landslide, just like in 2020. Because to do otherwise would be to notice how Joe Biden apparently has closed the gap in six of the seven swing states that will decide the election.
Nothing to see here. Not a doggone thing.
