Miami
FLORIDA Trump rallies in Fort Myers to back Byron Donalds and Ashley Moody
The President campaigned on Florida’s Gulf Coast for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms. He also revived talk of a possible Marco Rubio role in Cuba once the conflict with Iran subsides.
Donald Trump held a campaign rally Friday in Fort Myers, at Florida Gulf Coast University, centered on the midterm elections and support for Republican candidates in Florida, Florida Politics reported.
During the event, Trump again raised the idea of sending Marco Rubio to Cuba after the conflict with Iran settles down. According to the outlet, he has been previewing a Rubio-led effort on Cuba since March.
The rally, announced a week earlier by the Republican Party of Florida, took place in the middle of Byron Donalds’ congressional district as early voting began in the state. Florida Politics said Alico Arena filled up and that it was Trump’s first campaign appearance in the Fort Myers area since 2018.
Trump’s main purpose was to boost Donalds in the governor’s race and Ashley Moody in the U.S. Senate contest. He also praised Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and backed Republicans running for seats in the House.
Speaking about Donalds, Trump said he first met him when he was a state lawmaker and highlighted that he was among his earliest supporters. Donalds later took the stage and said that, if elected governor, he would work to make government accountable to voters and help children achieve their Florida dream.
Trump also urged voters to keep Moody in the Senate. According to Florida Politics, she is running against Democrat Angie Nixon, a state Representative from Jacksonville and a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Moody said she was pleased to be serving in the Senate with Trump back in the White House and recalled clashes with Joe Biden’s administration when she was Florida’s attorney general. In that part of her remarks, she criticized Democratic immigration policy and tied it to public safety and drug trafficking concerns.
The event also drew Republican figures including Rick Scott, Vern Buchanan, Jay Collins, Joe Gruters, Evan Power and Kathleen King, along with several members of the U.S. House. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Health and Human Services Secretary, and Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, also appeared, according to Florida Politics.
For much of the rally, Trump reviewed what he described as achievements of his administration while mixing political attacks with jokes. Among other remarks, he celebrated the renaming of the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America and then joked about changing the names of other places, while adding that he was not being serious.
Trump also argued that Democrats should not return to power, predicted Republicans would keep control of Congress, and attacked the party on the economy, sports and gender policies.
Sources
About this piece. Written by El Notero with AI assistance, from reporting published by the outlet cited above. El Notero did no original reporting on this story.
