Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) tore him to Rep. Randy Fine (R-Fla.) after winning a special election on Tuesday, claiming he won the race after President Trump bailed him out.
In comments at a press conference held in Ocala, Florida, Desantis said the relatively close margin of the deep red sixth Congressional district is not for Trump, but for the quality of the candidate.
Liberal candidates win the Wisconsin Supreme Court competition. GOP’s Randyfine wins a special election in Florida
“I think you have a candidate for Randefine. “He supported the second amendment limit in 2018. He tried to beat my immigration proposal to help President Trump enforce immigration laws and made Florida a de facto sanctuary state.”
“When people see it, our basic voters aren’t excited about it,” he continued. “He fights people off.”
Fine responded to DeSantis in a post on social platform X, writing, “Burning the hottest thing before the dying star disappears into oblivion.”
“I’m working with @RealdonaldTrump to focus on stopping Democrats from retreating the country. Let’s go,” Fein told the post.
Fine won the special election, replacing national security adviser Mike Waltz about 14 points. By comparison, Trump and Waltz scored more than 30 points in November. DeSantis, who represented the district before running for governor, scored 37 points in the second governor race.
“It’s a low-performance thing. I think it’s unique to the candidate. If the president were sitting on the sidelines, this race would have been so close that he really had to bail out,” DeSantis said. “If there is, it shows that the president will go out to Republicans on Election Day and have juice to vote for candidates they aren’t into.”
Desantis and Fine have a controversial history dating back to 2023 in the Republican presidential primary when the fines switched support from DeSantis to Trump. Fine said he switched his support from DeSantis to Trump as he claimed that Trump’s actions had shown support for the Jewish community.
The governor’s team fought back at that time, calling Fine’s move “the political theatre.”
