Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds found himself in the spotlight after quietly scrubbing references to President Donald Trump from his campaign website.
The GOP congressman's site had previously centered almost entirely on Trump's backing, but the Miami Herald reported that numerous prominent references to the increasingly unpopular president – and his all-caps endorsement – have vanished.
According to the website-tracking service Visualping, the campaign removed at least eight references to Trump from the homepage alone, and Donalds' policy page swapped out "Enact the Trump Agenda" at the top of his priorities for affordability as the page's lead issue, with no mention of the president anywhere on it.
The change drew attention as a leading indicator of Trump's popularity heading into the midterm elections.
"Oh it’s BAD bad for R’s [right now]," crowed Democratic activist Mari Manoogian.
"Republicans in Florida dropping Trump," noticed political analyst Marco Frieri. "First @MaElviraSalazar, now @ByronDonalds, who's next?"
"You know it’s bad when Republicans have to distance themselves from Trump in Florida," agreed Democratic activist David Hogg.
"@ByronDonalds divestment," opined political commentator Maribel Balbin.
"That might work for some people out there, but not for Byron Donalds," predicted writer Casey Ayers.
"Wow, are you gonna take that [lying] down, @realDonaldTrump?" challenged former GOP strategist Rick Wilson. "Byron Donalds just shit all over you. Total disrespect. He would be nothing without you, Donald… I remember when he called you 'daddy' but now by Donalds thinks you’re a liability. Sad! Weak! Low-T!"
"Trying to balance my 'The overly rosy polls are probably wrong' view with the increasingly desperate-seeming actions from vulnerable Republicans," reasoned law professor Ben Yelin.
"And what else is his pac (sic) just sent out a mass text celebrating the DeSantis endorsement," pointed out Politico's Kimberly Leonard. "Don’t be surprised if you start seeing more GOP candidates shun Don and embrace Ron."
"Interesting question. If the Titanic tried to change course AFTER it hit the Ice Berg (sic), would that have mattered?" wondered Democratic strategist Jesse Ferguson.
"I keep saying the rats always know first when a ship is sinking, another one bails off the SS MAGAt," observed popular Bluesky user Mike.
"They can never run away from the stink of DJT," warned widely followed X user Vickie Scott.