(The Center Square) – Gov. Kevin Stitt announced over the weekend his endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president.
During a speech in Oklahoma Saturday, Stitt said he believed DeSantis was the candidate to beat President Biden.
“As a proven leader, DeSantis has boldly delivered results for the people of Florida that laid the groundwork for a booming economy, an education system focused on student outcomes, and better infrastructure for working families,” said the governor. “To deliver these same results all across America and unwind the disastrous liberal mandates of the Biden administration is going to demand a candidate who can win and keep winning as a two-term president. I am confident that leader is Ron DeSantis.”
Stitt is the first governor to endorse DeSantis’ presidential bid. He cited DeSantis’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as a reason for his support.
“Governor DeSantis is a strong conservative and principled leader, and I am proud to endorse him for president,” said Stitt. “As fellow Governors during COVID, DeSantis did not surrender states’ rights and individual liberties over to groupthink. In this election cycle, Oklahomans will remember that DeSantis was one of the few who never backed down in the face of adversity, because DeSantis operated with dogged conviction and shared our values for a limited government and free country.”
DeSantis thanked Stitt for the endorsement, writing on Twitter:
“In Florida and Oklahoma, we stand up for freedom – the freedom to raise your family without radical ideology being crammed down your throat; freedom to worship and live your faith as you see fit; freedom to run your business and control your finances without corporate activists injecting a woke ideology into the marketplace. We are on a mission to ensure that freedom prevails across the land,” DeSantis wrote.
President Donald Trump previously endorsed Stitt’s re-election campaign last year.
On Monday, Trump responded to the Oklahoma governor’s decision to throw his weight behind DeSantis.
“Governor Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma, who I didn’t know very well, called me before his last election to say he was in big trouble and very much needed my endorsement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I love Oklahoma and won 76 out of 76 districts, something that never happened before. Ronald Reagan was next with 56. Anyway, I gave him my endorsement, he immediately went way up, and won. Now, despite the fact that DeSanctimonious is losing to Biden, and me, Stitt just endorsed him. Wow!”
via Oklahoma's Center Square News