Ron DeSantis

Appearing on MSNBC with host Alex Witt, former Rep. Dave Jolly (R-FL) explained that Donald Trump has no choice but to continue holding rallies if he has any hope of getting the Republican Paty presidential nomination in 2024.

While Trump currently remains an odds-on favorite to land the nomination again despite losing in 2020, the ex-Florida lawmaker said his message about having had the last presidential election "stolen' from him will have lost its impact in 2024 and he already has GOP challengers "nipping at his heels."

As the Republican Party continues to grapple with its crippling defeat in the 2020 presidential election, there are still looming questions and concerns about former President Donald Trump's presence and how his influence could impact the upcoming elections. Even now, the party is facing difficulties in separating from the former disgraced president.

According to The Washington Post, strategists have noted how critical a Trump endorsement is for Republican candidates as the base remains largely loyal to the former president. It also offers insight into the troubling manner in which he selects candidates to endorse. The problem centers on the fact that Trump does not always endorse candidates based on their ability to service in the position they seek but rather what they have to offer him.

With Donald Trump hitting the road this weekend to begin a series of rallies with an eye on the 2024 presidential nomination, an aide close to the ex-president claims Trump plans to serve notice that he is not to be challenged for control of the Republican Party.

According to a report from the Daily Beast's Asawin Suebsaeng, Trump's rally tour will be one part red-meat cultural issues for his rabid base and one part making sure people know he intends to be the face of the party for the next four years.

Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis is taking time to pose for the cameras and talk to Fox News in the wake of the stunning partial building collapse that more than 12 hours later has left 99 people missing, and feared dead.

DeSantis reportedly added an interview with far right Fox News host Mark Levin to his calendar for Thursday.

Department of Homeland Security police were captured on video threatening to arrest people offering bottles of water to those standing in the Florida heat at the Miramar, Florida ICE check-in center.

Ron DeSantis agitator Thomas Kennedy posted the video Thursday showing good samaritans offering the water on a day that had 100-degree temperatures and south Florida's typical humidity.

Mike Pompeo is making inroads with large New York Republican donors as he funds his super PAC "Champion American Values," reported CNBC on Thursday.

Pompeo has been traveling to early primary and caucus states like Iowa to New Hampshire but also to states like Texas and Nebraska. He'll certainly need it, according to the latest conservative straw poll, support for Pompeo fell behind Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), Donald Trump and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX).

A Florida man was arrested and charged with multiple felonies last Thursday after intentionally performing a "burnout" with his car over a Pride-themed mural painted on an intersection in Delray Beach, opening him up to become the first person charged under the state's controversial new "anti-riot" bill pushed by Republicans.

Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, signed the bill meant to crack down on protests in the wake of the George Floyd uprisings earlier this year, just as the trial against former Minneapolis police officer Derick Chauvin was wrapping up. The legislation was heavily opposed by first amendment activists and Black lawmakers in the state. Now a young Trump supporter may be the first person entangled by the new law.

In a new analysis, the Miami Herald editorial board broke down how Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), a notorious ally of President Donald Trump, has ultimately been more successful at following the Trump formula of politics than the former president himself has been.

"In the 2 1/2 years he's been in office, DeSantis has advanced the Trump brand more successfully than Trump. That's largely because DeSantis works with a Legislature that's also in lockstep with his agenda while the former president dealt with the constraints of a deadlocked Congress," wrote the board. "The 42-year-old governor finished ahead of Trump himself in a straw poll of 30 potential 2024 presidential candidates taken at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver over the weekend."

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation requiring Florida students, faculty and staff to register their political views in surveys in an effort to promote "intellectual diversity" at colleges and universities, and the measure set off backlash across social media.

Critics decried the law, which DeSantis claims will promote freedom of speech, as a "thoroughly Orwellian" attempt to gain control over academic debate at institutions of higher learning.

UPDATE: A previous version of this story made the claim that Florida's college students would be required to register their political views with the state. This is incorrect, as Politifact notes:

• The law requires an annual assessment of “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” at public colleges and universities.
  
• The bill does not address what questions will be asked, whether participation is mandatory, or if the responses will be anonymous.
  
• The survey hasn’t been created yet but a spokesperson for the Florida Department of Education said it will be voluntary and won’t ask about individuals’ political beliefs. Instead, it will ask whether individuals “feel they can express their political viewpoints and opinions in their college classrooms.”

You can read more here.

Republican state legislatures have found a new way to grab power by limiting the authorities of Democrats who are elected as mayors in major cities.

Politico reports Republicans in Arizona, Florida, and Texas have started limiting the power of mayors to implement mask mandates in their cities during the novel coronavirus pandemic that has killed more than 600,000 Americans.