Name: Even after he leaves White House, Trump could bring trouble for Rubio, Scott and DeSantis
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Even after he leaves White House, Trump could bring trouble for Rubio, Scott and DeSantis

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AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelJan 07, 2021 at 5:06 pmWith less than two weeks left in office, President Donald Trump is creating a sharp divide in the Florida Republican Party between loyalists who backed his baseless claims of fraud and those trying to distance themselves from him after the violent attack on the Capitol he helped incite.But the biggest question over the next few years will be how deep a shadow Trump will continue to cast over politics in Florida, his adopted state.Advertisement“I think that people may start to figure out that there’s a price to pay in all of this, Georgia being an example,” said Mac Stipanovich, a Tallahassee consultant and anti-Trump Republican, referring to the Democrats’ dual Senate victories on Tuesday.Susan MacManus, a professor emerita of political science at the University of South Florida, said it might be the GOP’s turn to see the kind of disarray that Democrats have been known for in Florida.Advertisement“It used to be said that it was only the Democrats that had these deep schisms within it,” MacManus said. “But the Republican Party has started catching up on that front.”The biggest contrast in the state party may be between Florida’s two Republican U.S. senators.Marco Rubio and Rick Scott split their votes on objections to the certification of Joe Biden’s election to the presidency, with Rubio voting no twice and Scott voting yes on one of the challenges.Some other Republican senators considering challenges decided against continuing with their objections to Biden’s Electoral College victory after Congress reconvened in the Capitol late Wednesday. But Scott was one of eight who did not.He had said early Wednesday he was opposed to Democratic Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf’s and state court decisions to extend the deadline for mail-in ballots, which he called “in defiance of state law. This is absurd, and cannot be tolerated.”Scott did not issue a new statement about his objection.Scott, however, has made similar decisions himself when he was governor of Florida. In 2018, he signed an executive order extending registration deadlines and voting options in counties ravaged by Hurricane Michael.While Scott won’t face voters again until 2024, but Rubio is up for reelection next year.AdvertisementDespite his support of Trump over the past five years, Rubio has a long list of anti-Trump statements dating back to his primary battles with him for the 2016 GOP nomination that might be used against him in a primary challenge — or in any future run for president.He wrote in a tweet Thursday, “Some misled you. That the VP could reject ballots. That objections could pass or [be] used as leverage to force an audit. They knew the truth but thought it was a great way to get attention &amp; raise money.”He and his office did not clarify who he was speaking about, however. Many Republicans were upset with U.S. Sens. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for pushing the objections and forcing all Republicans to cast votes on the issue.But Rubio also tweeted Thursday, “Millions of Americans had doubts about the election.”Voting to accept the Electoral College results will only increase the odds of a fervent Trump supporter taking him on in the 2022 primary. And there are a few reports indicating he might even face one of the Trumps themselves, with Trump’s daughter Ivanka rumored to be considering a Senate run from her new home in Miami.“Despite all the deference shown to Trump, Rubio may draw a challenge from his right,” Stipanovich said. “But Donald Trump got a hole beneath the waterline yesterday, and he’s taken on a lot of water.”AdvertisementAnd, he added, the Trump family might not be able to carry out all his threats to every senator or governor who opposes them.“If he follows through on his and his son’s [Donald Jr] threats, they’ve got to primary against [Gov.] Brian Kemp in Georgia, they’ve got to primary [Sen.] John Thune in South Dakota, they’ve got to primary Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio. Do they primary Marco Rubio in Florida too? I don’t know. I’m not sure they can.”Republicans in the House, though, remained mostly lockstep behind Trump, even ones sworn in office just days ago.Of the 16 Republican Congress members in Florida, only two voted against objections to Biden’s election while another two didn’t vote because of positive coronavirus tests.Central Florida U.S. Reps. Dan Webster, R-Clermont, Scott Franklin, R-Lakeland, and Bill Posey, R-Rockledge, all voted for the objections in an attempt to deny Biden’s election.U.S. Rep. Michael Waltz, R-St. Augustine Beach, who had initially supported the objections, ended up voting no.AdvertisementWaltz, who was criticized for joining a lawsuit seeking to overturn election results in four states, was sending out fundraising emails touting his planned objections as recently as Wednesday morning. But he said the mob assault led him to change his mind.“With today’s despicable display of violence and intimidation on Capitol Hill, we must move on to ensure a peaceful transfer of power and certify the presidential election,’' Waltz said in a statement. “We must settle our political disputes through debate and the law, not violent chaos.”Ron DeSantis is the biggest example of a politician whose career was boosted by Trump, following a single tweet endorsement in 2018 that vaulted him to the Republican nomination for governor.DeSantis was one of the first Trump supporters to call for overturning the results of the Pennsylvania election in November. But he condemned the mob assault on the Capitol without acknowledging any role that he, Trump or others played in it.“I 100% support people’s rights to get together and protest and say what’s on their mind,” DeSantis said at a news conference Thursday. “The minute that that crosses over, I think there need to be penalties.”MacManus said it was still unclear what power Trump would have in the coming years, especially as calls for his removal or a second impeachment were growing on Capitol Hill. But he could still loom large in his new home.Advertisement“It really is clear he’s moving back,” she said. “He is a permanent resident of Florida, and his wife is down here looking at high schools for his son.’'But she added that power “is positional … And when you don’t have that position, you don’t have nearly the power you did when you had it.”Here is the Florida roll call of Republican House members for both objections to the electors. All of the Democrats voted no.Gus Bilirakis didn’t voteVern Buchanan, noKat Cammack, yesAdvertisementMario Diaz-Balart, yesByron Donalds, yesNeal Dunn, yesScott Franklin, yesMatt Gaetz, yesCarlos Gimenez, yesAdvertisementBrian Mast, yesBill Posey, yesWeeklyGet latest updates political news from Central Florida and across the state. &gt; John Rutherford, yesMaria Elvira Salazar was not sworn in by the vote as she is recovering from COVID-19.Greg Steube, yesMichael Waltz, noAdvertisementDan Webster, yesStaff writers Richard Tribou and Anthony Man contributed to this report.slemongello@orlandosentinel.com Advertisement

AdvertisementBy Orlando SentinelJan 07, 2021 at 5:06 pmWith less than two weeks left in office, President Donald Trump is creating a sharp divide in the Florida Republican Party between loyalists who backed his baseless claims of fraud and those trying to distance themselves from him after the violent attack on the Capitol he helped incite.But the biggest question over the next few years will be how deep a shadow Trump will continue to cast over politics in Florida, his adopted state.Advertisement“I think that people may start to figure out that there’s a price to pay in all of this,...

Even after he leaves White House, Trump could bring trouble for Rubio, Scott and DeSantis

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