Matt Gaetz and Ron DeSantis are friends with a long history but they disagree on the Florida Governor’s race in 2026.
Matt Gaetz shared his response to Governor DeSantis’s remarks from yesterday. Governor DeSantis supports his wife in the Governor’s race. President Trump supports US Congressman Byron Daniels.
Man it hurts me to see this
Governor DeSantis, don’t you remember when you, @ByronDonalds and I were working collaboratively to get you elected in 2018? We literally were your debate prep team.
And then we worked together under your excellent leadership during your wildly-successful transition into power.
You and I even tried to muscle Byron into the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida, we thought so highly of him. He only didn’t get that job because he came up a little short running for Collier Co party chair.
Byron is going to miss some votes running for governor.
You missed some too when you ran as a congressman.
I missed some too campaigning alongside you, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.
Gaetz was responding to Governor Desantis’s comments yesterday when asked about Byron Donalds who President Trump is backing for Florida Governor.
JUST IN: DeSantis asked if he’s endorsing @ByronDonalds for governor in 2026
“I want these congressmen focused on enacting [President Trump]’s agenda. They haven’t done very much yet. They’re not putting his executive orders into place, we’ll see what they do on the spending… to be trying to campaign other places and missing these votes, is not something advisable at all.”
“We’ve achieved victories in Florida – we need to start achieving these victories up there… [Donalds] just hasn’t been a part of the victories [in Florida] over the past several years… he’s been in other states, campaigning. And that’s fine – but, OK, deliver results up there. That’s what I want to see.”
“We delivered here all the time for the people of Florida, and that’s what we need to be doing.”
“I’ve said I will raise money, we’re going to look for someone that can continue and build off the success we’ve had here in Florida.”
“We could revert very quickly. That could happen, 100%.”
Here are the respective tweets.
Man it hurts me to see this
Governor DeSantis, don’t you remember when you, @ByronDonalds and I were working collaboratively to get you elected in 2018? We literally were your debate prep team.
And then we worked together under your excellent leadership during your… https://t.co/R3uhwxrcHK
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) February 24, 2025