Sean Hannity and a former Marvel mogul are lobbying the president to hand Florida's term-limited governor one of the most powerful jobs in Washington.
Some of Donald Trump's closest allies want him to tap Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the next attorney general — despite him being a bitter enemy during the run up to the last general election.
Fox News host Hannity and Ike Perlmutter, the former Marvel Entertainment chairman who relocated to Florida and became a fixture in both men's orbits, have been quietly lobbying Trump to put DeSantis in charge of the Justice Department, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. Hannity even gave DeSantis a prime-time platform on May 6, lavishing praise on the governor for turning Florida into a billionaire magnet.
DeSantis, asked directly about the push, told the Journal, "I haven't asked for a job. So it's not a question of interest or not. I want to help the country, and I want the president to do well."
The maneuvering comes on the heels of a more colorful account from Axios, which reported that DeSantis had made his interest considerably more explicit over lunch at Trump's Mar-a-Lago golf club in late April. According to the outlet, Trump told a confidante that DeSantis had been "begging" him for the AG post.
Meanwhile, the man currently warming the attorney general's seat is watching his clock tick.
Todd Blanche — Trump's former personal defense attorney, now serving as acting AG after Trump ousted Pam Bondi on April 2 — has been working overtime to make himself indispensable. He oversaw the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey over an Instagram post. He green-lit charges of fraud and conspiracy against the Southern Poverty Law Center, then went on Fox News to argue — incorrectly, the SPLC insists — that the organization never shared intelligence gathered from paid informants with law enforcement agencies. The SPLC has demanded a retraction and accused Blanche of feeding the grand jury bad information.
When CBS Mornings asked Blanche whether he was auditioning for the permanent job, he bristled.
"I don't audition for this job," he snapped, before rattling off his résumé.
According to Axios, Blanche has roughly 90 days to convince Trump he's the right pick — or the job goes to someone else.
DeSantis is term-limited in Florida and constitutionally barred from running for governor again. His term ends in January 2027, leaving him in need of a next act.
During Republican primaries before the 2020 election, Trump nicknamed DeSantis "DeSanctimonious" and subjected him to merciless mockery.
The White House did not respond to the Journal's request for comment.
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