GOP voters sound off on DeSantis, Trump at Fox & Friends show in Tequesta

Original source (on modern site) | Article images: [1]

TEQUESTA — A highly-watched morning show on the conservative Fox News network came to town Friday to let local viewers sound off on the Trump-DeSantis rivalry and other political matters.

"Who likes Donald Trump? Who loves the governor?" Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy asked the dozens of people having a sunrise breakfast at Tiki 52 to loud, effusive cheers for both 2024 Republican presidential candidates.

The scene was festive with with live music, cheering and waving at the cameras as Doocy spoke to people from tableside to dockside. Beyond the network's microphones, the fierce campaign rivalry boiling between the state's two most popular and powerful political figures, former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis, drew a decidedly mixed reaction from a crowd largely attired in Trump and MAGA apparel and accessories.

Political attacks:Trump's campaign accuses DeSantis of threatening veto power for Florida endorsements

Two-man race, not one ticket:Trump-DeSantis 2024 ticket a likely no go? Problem isn't their feud. It's U.S. Constitution.

Tequesta crowd at Fox news show cites immigration, foreign policy as important. And also loyalty.

Donna Cocomazzi, a Palm Beach Gardens Republican who was wearing an outfit adorned with sequins showing the American flag, said she is committed to voting for Trump in next year's primary because he "will do anything he can to support America."

Cocomazzi said she thinks it's "very sad" that the governor, who announced his own White House bid on Wednesday, has joined the presidential primary field.

"We elected him as our governor," Cocomazzi said. "We did not elect him as our president, and now he's running for president."

Cocomazzi was not alone in expressing disappointment.

Another attendee, Randy Lundi, the director of productions for Club 47, a local Trump fan club, said Trump has a proven record as a president, specifically on global and foreign policy, which he said DeSantis does not have. But Lundy said the governor's apparent lack of loyalty disturbed him, too.

"I'm disappointed because of loyalty issues. That bothers me the most," Lundi said about DeSantis. "I like him as our governor, best governor in the country, but I don't believe he's ready for prime time. I don't believe he's ready for the international global foreign issues that we have facing us today."

The loyalty criticism has been an ongoing complaint by Trump. his closest confidants and even supporters. They insist that DeSantis owes his governorship to an endorsement tweet from Trump in 2018. In that missive, they have pointed out, Trump called the then-GOP Florida gubernatorial candidate a "brilliant young leader," which they say carried DeSantis to victory, first, in the Republican primary and then over his Democratic opponent Andrew Gillum by a narrow 32,000 votes.

DeSantis presidential announcement:DeSantis enters presidential race, where does that leave Palm Beach County politicos?

But Jupiter resident Robert Smoski said he just wants "the best man" to take office whether it be DeSantis or Trump. Smoski said he's not upset that DeSantis entered the race since he's been a "great governor," especially through the pandemic.

Smoski said he agrees with Trump's immigration and foreign policy stances, but he is uncomfortable when Trump bashes other candidates with personal attacks. He thinks that DeSantis is more "laid back" than Trump, but he doesn't "conquer the stage" like Trump does.

"I'm always for a Republican, I'm always for anti-Biden. I don't care who it is," Smoski said of the president. "If one of them got it, I would be happy. But Biden, I'm not happy with."

DeSantis joins race as polls show him trailing Trump — even in Florida

DeSantis launched his presidential bid Wednesday evening via a glitchy Twitter Spaces conversation with billionaire Elon Musk and businessman David Sacks. Despite giving a rocky first impression to the nation, DeSantis' campaign said it raised $8.2 million in the first 24 hours since his official presidential launch.

DeSantis' long-awaited announcement came after a slew of low polling numbers versus Trump and after the ex-president's campaign and supportive PACs released multiple personal attack ads against the governor. For months, Trump has spoken nationwide to conservative groups and leaders about his presidential ambitions, which included numerous critical remarks of Florida's governor for being "disloyal" as speculation mushroomed about DeSantis' intention to challenge his erstwhile close political ally.

A poll earlier this month of Florida GOP voters showed Trump leading DeSantis by 28 percentage points. Many other national and state-specific surveys across the country show Trump with wide leads over DeSantis.

Attendee at Fox show said Trump is "owed" victory in 2024

Majority support for Trump was on display at Tiki 52 on Friday morning, despite the loud cheers for the governor when prompted by Doocy.

Kerry Kensington, who said she is a member of the Republican Party locally and part of Club 47, said she is fully supporting Trump. Kensington said she loves DeSantis as governor but won't back him for president.

A North Palm Beach resident decked out in MAGA gear, she said Trump will beat DeSantis and Biden with his loyal MAGA support behind him. She said that DeSantis lied by saying he's running for governor when "he was running for president."

Divisive GOP policies in Florida:GOP says deep red Florida unwinnable for Biden. But can state help him win voters elsewhere?

"We feel he's owed this next election," Kensington said of Trump. "So we're behind him 100% ... We love Ron DeSantis as our governor, and he should have stayed our governor. He should have stayed and he should have run in 2028."

One attendee named Bryan, who did not want have his last name published, was the only attendee wearing a "DeSantis 2024" hat, said that he didn't initially believe that DeSantis would run, but that he's concerned that Trump would lose in a general election.

He said Trump and DeSantis are very similar in their political positions, but that the way for DeSantis to beat Trump would be to explain to voters that Trump "was good," but that he would be better and have more success since Trump is "such a polarizing figure."

"Trump's a second term president," Bryan said, noting that Trump would constitutionally not be able to seek re-election if he again won the presidency. "After two years he's a lame duck. If he loses, the House or the Senate, then he's useless. So we have two years, who's behind it? That's my only knock against him."

Stephany Matat is a politics reporter for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY-Florida network. Reach her at smatat@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.