A.G. Gancarski
Speaking at Friday’s State Freedom Caucus Summit, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins sharpened attacks on members of his own party, which will be necessary if he runs against U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds and former House Speaker Paul Renner for the 2026 GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Collins talked about his role in helping to ensure immigration legislation championed by the Legislature did not become law, arguing that he “protected” President Donald Trump, who emphatically supports Donalds.
“You would think in a state like Florida, we don’t have to fight people within our own ranks, people within our own party, that we shouldn’t have to do that. You would hope that by now, we know what right looks like, because we have a moral compass and it’s pouring the right direction. I’ll tell you what, I was pretty appalled. I was pretty frustrated to find that people in my party, people who I knew, people who ran on the same things that I ran on, failed to stand up and fight. And then they wanted to name the bill that Trump Act. Y’all, sometimes, as warriors, as people who fight to do the right thing, we have to protect those above us. And in this case, Florida protected the president, because that bill was not worthy of what Donald J. Trump has been doing for this great nation,” Collins said.
The Tackling and Reforming Unlawful Migration Policy Act rankled Gov. Ron DeSantis, in large part because it would have given Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson decision making power in the fight against illegal immigration, an issue that has become DeSantis’ primary preoccupation in recent years.
The President has never explicitly said he felt “protected” by the eventual failure of the TRUMP Act, though he does seem to back House Speaker Daniel Perez for Attorney General over James Uthmeier, DeSantis’ former chief of staff and campaign manager who was appointed to replace Ashley Moody.
Collins also claimed that his run for state office was inspired by the pandemic and a military withdrawal under President Joe Biden, the latter of which has a tenuous connection to the state Senate seat he ran for before being appointed Governor.
“I had an epiphany, as I was lamenting COVID and lamenting the failed withdrawal in that absolute mess that happened in Afghanistan, and I realized that if I was willing to die in a nation that wasn’t mine, fighting beside people I didn’t know to defend what we love here at home, why wouldn’t I do all that I can right here at home to do the same thing? So I jumped into politics, even though that’s not my dream.”
