Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, announced Wednesday that he is endorsing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, for president.
“It’s time for Ron DeSantis to be President of the United States,” Roy, the policy chair of the Freedom Caucus, said in a campaign email obtained by The Daily Signal.
DeSantis is considered one of the top 2024 contenders, though he has not yet announced a presidential campaign. The Florida governor has drawn the ire of former President Donald Trump, who heavily critiqued DeSantis as recently as Tuesday, comparing him to Republicans Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney and joking about calling DeSantis “Tiny D,” according to the Daily Caller.
Neither the Trump campaign nor Team DeSantis immediately responded to requests for comment from The Daily Signal.
Roy’s email states that the next president must be a “vibrant and energetic leader with the faith, vision, and courage to chart a new course.”
“America needs a leader who will truly defend her and empower the people against the destructive force of unrestrained government and corporate excess, profligate spending, and woke cultural indoctrination,” he wrote.
“That leader is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,” he continued.
“Governor DeSantis is a man of conviction—a man who puts his faith in God first as a dedicated husband and father,” the congressman wrote. “He grew up a blue collar kid who worked hard, got a great education, and used it immediately to serve his country. He loves America unapologetically but loves freedom and the rule of law even more, with the courage to fight for both.”
Roy praised DeSantis’ “no-nonsense government and fearless rejection of woke ‘conventional wisdom,’” pointing to his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida as well as his proven “ability to win at the ballot box time and time again.”
“Perhaps most of all, Governor DeSantis makes clear he would lead our nation as commander in chief with the kind of resolve and sober strength that produces peace through strength,” Roy wrote. “A veteran himself, he recognizes that a military is best when it is strong, non-politically correct, and lethal—while being sparingly but decisively used and not mired in endless, protracted military engagements all around the globe.”
“America has been built upon and defined by the sacrifices of one generation for the next,” he continued. “When Republicans choose our 2024 presidential nominee—whom I intend to support against Joe Biden or any other Democrat candidate—I believe it’s time for a new generation of leadership. It’s time for younger, but proven, leadership to offer America eight solid years of transformational change.”
This is not the first time that Roy, who voted to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election, has been at odds with Trump. In 2021, Trump released a statement of condemnation criticizing Roy and endorsing Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., against Roy to become the third-ranking House Republican.
“Can’t imagine Republican House Members would go with Chip Roy—he has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district,” Trump said in a press release, The Texas Tribune reported at the time. “I support Elise, by far, over Chip!”
News of the Texas congressman’s endorsement comes after a former senior Trump adviser, Ken Cuccinelli, launched a political action committee calling on the Florida governor to run for president in the 2024 election. Cuccinelli’s NEVER BACK DOWN PAC specifically calls on DeSantis to lead the Republican Party to victory over President Joe Biden.
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