Ron DeSantis bucks some of his political allies, backs Chad Chronister to DEA

Gov. Ron DeSantis is endorsing the selection of Hillsborough County’s Sheriff to helm the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

But the Governor’s praise has less to do with illegal narcotics than with political alignments, and it puts DeSantis at odds with two of the few out-of-state leaders who backed his presidential campaign.

“When we removed Soros-backed prosecutor Andrew Warren from office, nobody supported us more strongly than Sheriff Chad Chronister. And when the deposed Soros prosecutor ran to reclaim the office this year, Sheriff Chronister led the opposition to that candidacy and helped ensure the election of tough-on-crime prosecutor Suzy Lopez,” DeSantis posted to X.

DeSantis went on to “congratulate Chad on his nomination and look forward to him taking on the drug cartels on behalf of the American people.”

The Governor’s backing of Chronister follows complaints from political allies of his over how the Sheriff handled the pandemic.

“I’m going to call ‘em like I see ‘em. Trump’s nominee for head of DEA should be disqualified for ordering the arrest (of) a pastor who defied COVID lockdowns,” asserted U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

Massie often campaigned with DeSantis during the part of the 2024 election cycle when the Governor was running for President, as did U.S. Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, another Chronister critic.

“We don’t need authoritarians who refuse to use discretion and protect the Constitution — no matter which party is in power,” Roy said to Fox News.

In 2020, Chronister announced the arrest of Dr. Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of The River at Tampa Bay Church, for having conducted a service during the height of social distancing in the early days of COVID.

Ultimately, the charges were dropped.