Ron DeSantis

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, the far-right Florida Republican lawmaker involved in the state's political system for nearly a quarter-century, and son of a well-known Sunshine State politician, appears to be strongly considering a run for governor.

Gaetz, who still faces an ongoing Congressional Ethics Committee investigation into allegations of inappropriate sexual relations with a 17-year old and illicit drug use, is a top Trump supporter who would be a strong contender.

U.S. Senator John Fetterman (D-PA) is striking back amid attacks on his iconically casual attire led by Republican lawmakers and Fox News.

Senator Fetterman, who often wears sweatshirts instead of suits, found himself once again targeted in the past few days.

If Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will be term limited out of his current role at the end of 2026, unless he manages to turn around his fortunes in the presidential race and moves to the White House before that. And there's one figure who appears ready to run to succeed him, reported NBC News on Monday: far-right Congressman Matt Gaetz.

The prominent Freedom Caucus member and Trump ally fueled the speculation while speaking to NBC about a Sunday event he attended celebrating Miami Republican state Rep. Danny Perez, who will be designated state House Speaker.

Donald Trump has stepped up his campaign activity in Iowa in hopes of crushing Ron DeSantis, who's betting his political fortunes on the state's caucus.

The former president still holds a commanding 30-point lead over the Florida governor in Iowa, but political veterans in the state believe that lead may be a mirage – and the former president is spending more money and time on the campaign there, with a pair of events planned for this week and three more stops early next month, reported Politico.

Based upon recent speeches made by the leading contenders for the Republican Party's 2024 presidential nomination, there appears to be a growing rift between what evangelicals want as the top priority of the next GOP administration and what the potential nominees are offering.

According to a report from the Guardian's David Smith, the surge of conservative voters Donald Trump has brought into the party who are not affiliated with churches has watered down the need to keep evangelicals happy and that showed in the speeches delivered at the Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit on Friday.

As the report notes, the elephant in the room is the question of banning abortions as a key plank for the GOP ticket which evangelicals see as a priority and contenders for the nomination are treading carefully based on recent election results.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office?

Case in point, Smith notes, was Trump's comments on Friday where he seemed to be hedging on making abortion a centerpiece of his campaign.

Writing, "... even as the former president basked in the religious right’s moment of triumph, he went on to deliver a warning," Smith reports Trump told the crowd, "I will say politically, it’s a very tough, it’s a very tough decision for some people, but very, very hard on elections. Very, very hard ... We had midterms and this was an issue, you know.”

The former president was not the only one dancing around the issue.

Orlando, Florida Republicans voted to nix a mandatory loyalty pledge Friday, officially agreeing to back ex-President Donald Trump over his rival and the Sunshine State's governor, Ron DeSantis, Orlando Sentinel reports.

"That's what the majority of people wanted," Tom Rivers, a state GOP committeeman said, according to the report. "We could hear them shouting from outside. Most of the people from my county were for it."

Republican presidential candidates including ex-President Donald Trump made appearances at the Washington, DC-based Pray Vote Stand Summit Friday night in efforts to win over the right-wing Christian evangelical base, The Daily Beast reports.

"Throughout the event at the Omni Shoreham hotel," the Beast notes, "attendees worshiped God with song and prayer and heard speakers drive home the urgency to elect Biblically-minded candidates and protect children from 'indoctrination' in public schools. More than a few times evangelical activists warned of 'Marxist,' 'radical left' and 'transgender' ideologies."

Critics of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claim that the "atmosphere" he's created in the state is hostile to Black people, The Miami Herald reported.

The Herald cites several DeSantis bills: the anti-protest bill that came after the sometimes violent Black Lives Matter protests in the summer of 2020; the "redrawn congressional maps he proposed eliminated two Black-led districts;" the Stop WOKE Act that "banned instruction that could make students feel uncomfortable about a historical event due to their race;" and his hand-picked Department of Education that updated Black history education standards, which was accused of claiming slaves "benefitted" from slavery, although that interpretation was hotly debated.

Like Sidney Powell and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, far-right Republican Jenna Ellis was among the pro-Donald Trump attorneys who, in late 2020 and early 2021, promoted the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump.

Now, Ellis is one of Trump's 18 co-defendants in Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis' criminal indictment. Powell and Giuliani are indicted as well.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is sharpening his rhetoric surrounding former President Donald Trump's multiple criminal trials.

Local news station WDTN reports that DeSantis said Trump's electability would take a likely fatal blow if he gets convicted in any of the four cases he currently faces.