Daniel Perez endorses Donald Trump after Ron DeSantis suspends campaign

Daniel Perez is pretty damn good at this politicking thing. Image via Twitter.

House Speaker-designate Daniel Perez was among the first Florida GOP politicians to announce their support for Ron DeSantis’ run at the White House.

Now that the Governor has officially suspended his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump to be the party’s nominee, the Miami Republican is putting his support squarely behind the former President.

“America has a choice to make. We can continue to stagger under the ineffectual and incoherent leadership of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, or we can embrace President Trump’s proven record of strength and prosperity,” Perez said in a statement Sunday less than an hour after DeSantis posted a video to X confirming he was dropping out of the race.

“I am proud to endorse Donald J. Trump to be the next President of the United States,” Perez continued. “Floridians have delivered for President Trump twice before, and we will work nonstop to do so again this November.

“I call on all Republicans to end this nomination process and stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump so that we can beat back the radical Biden/Harris agenda that has made our nation less safe, less prosperous and less affordable.”

Perez’s endorsement of Trump came amid a wave of reactions to DeSantis dropping out, a move presaged by a dismal performance last week in Iowa, where the Governor campaigned extensively but failed to outpace Trump in a single county.

It also came several hours after U.S. Rep. Aaron Bean, a Ferdinand Beach Republican, announced he was backing Trump. DeSantis reportedly asked Bean and five other members of Congress last year to refrain from endorsing any candidate.

Aggregated national polling Sunday morning showed DeSantis more than 50 percentage points behind Trump and 1 point behind former U.S. Ambassador and South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, whose candidacy many expect will end soon as well.

A straw poll the Miami-Dade GOP conducted Jan. 3 to determine whom the party would support in Florida’s most populous county overwhelmingly went Trump’s way. Fifty-three of 64 Executive Committee members picking the former President, compared to just five who sided with DeSantis.