The mega-Maga contender in deep-red Florida who doesn’t want to talk about Trump

Byron Donalds, the Republican nominee for Florida governor and a three-term congressman, is running a campaign that largely avoids mentioning President Donald Trump, even though Trump is due in Fort Myers on Friday, just over a week before the November 3 election. Donalds's team removed nearly all references to the president from the campaign website last month, including its top-listed priority of carrying out Trump's agenda. At a Broward County rally, Donalds blamed Joe Biden, Democrats, Zohran Mamdani, Anthony Fauci and opponent David Jolly for affordability woes, yet never named Trump or mentioned Iran or gas prices, according to The Guardian.

The race is closer than Republicans would like, though registered Republicans in Florida outnumber Democrats by more than 1.5 million. Asked whether the silence signaled a break from unpopular policies such as the immigration crackdown, Donalds did not answer, saying the speech concerned the governor's race.

Analyst Larry Sabato of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics called the distancing a tactic many Republicans are using, noting Donalds is firmly pro-Maga. Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried said scrubbing the website changed nothing, since Donalds rushed back to Trump within hours.

Summarized by PolitiKool from The Guardian’s reporting. Read the full story at The Guardian →