The Republican speaker of Florida’s House of Representatives has defended Gov. Ron DeSantis after the only Jewish GOP lawmaker in the state legislature switched his support in the 2024 primary to former President Donald Trump.
State Rep. Randy Fine, who once helped chair DeSantis’ Jewish outreach efforts, turned against the governor in a blistering op-ed Monday, contending that Trump was a stronger friend to Jewish Americans.
“I got jumped by a Nazi in Florida. On video. Two weeks ago. In Ron DeSantis’ Florida, that’s no big deal,” Fine wrote in the Washington Times.
“Every piece of legislation you hear him talk about regarding Jewish issues is one I wrote,” Fine added of the governor. “I love his words. His actions have broken my heart.”
Fine cited an uptick in antisemitic attacks across the Sunshine State in the wake of Hamas’ Oct. 7 terror assault on southern Israel and accused DeSantis of paying lip service to confronting anti-Jewish hatred.
“In 2020, I had an open anti-Semite run against me; she called me a ‘pest’ who should be ‘exterminated,'” Fine recalled. “So many Republican leaders came to my defense; Governor DeSantis did not. He didn’t even endorse me.”
“When [Trump] was President, Islamic countries weren’t attacking Jews over there; neo-Nazis were not attacking Jews over here because they feared him,” he wrote. “The past two weeks have made me realize our choice as Jews is simple. We can vote for the Governor who says all the right things, or we can vote for the President who actually does them. When it comes to action, Donald Trump has never let us down.”
Florida House Speaker Paul Renner jumped to DeSantis’ defense Wednesday.
“There’s never been a more staunch, pro-Israel Governor than Ron DeSantis, and his record proves it,” Renner wrote on X.
“The rhetoric suggesting otherwise is wrong, just ask any of the hundreds of Americans who made it home on flights organized by the Governor when President Biden failed to bring them home to safety,” he added.
DeSantis shrugged off Fine’s defection as “pure politics” during a campaign stop in New Hampshire and campaign spokesman Bryan Griffin defended the governor.
“[It’s] shameful political theater at a time when Ron DeSantis is leading the charge to support Israel,” Griffin said, according to Politico.
The DeSantis campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Post Wednesday.
The 45-year-old DeSantis has long had a lock on endorsements from the Florida state legislature, while Trump has monopolized the backing of the Sunshine State’s congressional delegation.
Fine was originally one of 100 GOP Florida state legislators who endorsed DeSantis in May.
DeSantis visited Israel in April and has been a staunch backer of the Jewish state. Recently, he’s proposed revoking visas of foreign nationals who express support for Hamas.
Trump has a 46.5-percentage-point edge over DeSantis, his closest foe, in the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.