Matt Gaetz notches Trump’s ‘Complete and Total Endorsement’

Matt Gaetz. Image via AP.

U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz has landed an endorsement from Donald Trump in his bid for a fifth term representing Florida’s 1st Congressional District.

“Matt Gaetz is a great Representative for the amazing people of Florida’s 1st Congressional District,” Trump wrote in a social media post.

“Matt is a Warrior for our MAGA Agenda, who tirelessly works to Drain the Swamp, Secure the Border, Support our Brave Veterans and Law Enforcement, Defend our always under siege Second Amendment, Stand Up to the Woke Mob, and Fight the Never-Ending Which Hunts from the Radical Left that our destroying our Country!”

The former President concluded with his hallmark phrase of support: “Matt Gaetz has my Complete and Total Endorsement!”

Gaetz thanked Trump for the endorsement in a Sunday tweet.

Trump’s endorsement comes after Republican Aaron Dimmock launched a bid to primary Gaetz just ahead of the qualifying deadline for federal candidates.

As Florida Politics previously reported, Dimmock appears to have ties to former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who Gaetz has long feuded with. Gaetz filed the motion to vacate that resulted in McCarthy being the first House Speaker ever ousted from leadership by a vote mid-Congress.

Gaetz and Dimmock are the only Republicans who qualified for the ballot. They will face off in the Aug. 20 Primary Election.

CD 1, which covers the westernmost stretch of the Panhandle, is a Republican stronghold — Trump carried the district with 66% of the vote to President Joe Biden’s 32% in 2020, and in 2016 he bested Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton 68%-28%.

Still, Democrat Gay Valimont is running for the seat, which locks non-Republicans out from casting a ballot in the Gaetz vs. Dimmock head-to-head.

Gaetz has easily fended off past Primary challengers. Two years ago, Republican challenger Mark Lombardo spent massive amounts of his own money, mostly on ads smearing Gaetz, only to lose 70%-24%. Gaetz, who was caught in the vortex of the Aaron Greenberg scandal, benefited from a Trump endorsement in that election, too.

Dimmock hasn’t shown any indications he will bring Lombardo-level money to the table, and with the cloud of potential criminal charges against Gaetz long gone, there’s no readily apparent strategy to overcome a Trump-endorsed incumbent who is widely popular both in his district and among right-wing Republicans nationwide.