OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The Florida Commission on Ethics has responded to former President Donald Trump’s allegations that Gov. Ron DeSantis violated ethics rules by conducting an illegal “shadow presidential campaign.”
According to Fox News, Make America Great Again Inc., a Trump-aligned super PAC, filed the complaint in March, but the commission dismissed it on Friday, stating that it did not “constitute a legally sufficient complaint.”
Taylor Budovich, a former spokesperson for Donald Trump, filed a complaint that claimed DeSantis was “leveraging his elected office and breaching his associated duties in a coordinated effort to develop his national profile, enrich himself and his political allies, and influence the national electorate.”
In a 15-page letter, Budovich accused DeSantis of leveraging his elected office to develop his national profile, enrich himself and his political allies, and influence the national electorate. The letter called the governor a “de facto candidate for president” and claimed that he violated multiple state statutes and federal campaign finance laws while conducting a multi-state book tour and allowing pro-DeSantis super PACs to boost his profile through ads and influence efforts.
“The complaint fails to indicate … that [DeSantis] solicited or accepted anything with an understanding that it would influence an official decision associated with his public office,” the ethics board said in a 12-page report.
Bodovich subsequently ripped the board’s ruling in an interview.
“It is hardly surprising that another weaponized state entity controlled by DeSantis ignores the facts and the law to protect the Governor,” he told Fox News.
The complaint was one of the initial attacks launched by Trump and his supporters against DeSantis, a former political ally who is now seen as the primary Republican opponent to the former president, the New York Post reported.
“An NBC survey found last week that 46% of GOP primary voters favor Trump as their first choice, with 31% selecting DeSantis — putting both men far ahead of the rest of the GOP field,” The Post’s report continued.
“But a recent poll showed DeSantis — not Trump — beating President Joe Biden in a potential 2024 matchup,” the outlet added. “DeSantis is widely expected to enter the Republican presidential race in May, after Florida’s legislative session ends this week.”
Trump has also lashed out at the popular Florida governor, nicknaming him “Ron DeSanctimoneous,” while a DeSantis-aligned PAC recently took aim at the former president in an ad released during a National Rifle Association forum earlier this month.
The pro-Desantis “super PAC dropped an advertisement targeting former President Donald Trump as a ‘gun-grabber’ amid the National Rifle Association leadership forum,” The Washington Examiner reported.
During the event, the political action committee Never Back Down released an ad and intended to distribute flyers with a similar message, criticizing the former president for aligning himself with liberals. The pro-DeSantis ad came after the GOP governor was the subject of an attack ad from MAGA Inc, which portrayed him as having “pudding fingers.”
“Trump promised NRA members he’d have their back,” the ad stated. “But when Second Amendment rights came under attack, Trump abandoned us and stood with liberal Democrats.”
WATCH:
The ad drew attention to Trump’s remarks following the 2018 Parkland School shooting that claimed 17 lives, during which he appeared to soften his stance on gun control. In addition, the ad highlighted Trump’s previous endorsement of red flag laws, raising the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons, and his suggestion of “taking the guns early.”
“Half of you are so afraid of the NRA,” Trump says in the clip. “We have to fight them every once in a while, that’s OK.”
In his speech at the NRA event, Trump adopted a much different tone and expressed unwavering backing for the Second Amendment. He also took intermittent jabs at his potential primary rival by referring to him as “DeSanctus” at times, the Examiner reported.
“I was proud to be the most pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment president you’ve ever had in the White House,” Trump said during his Friday speech. “I think that’s been acknowledged, and with your support, in 2024, I will be your loyal friend and fearless champion once again as the 47th president of the United States.”
DeSantis spoke to the NRA assembly through pre-recorded remarks while en route between Virginia, where he addressed the Liberty University Convocation, and New Hampshire, where he was scheduled to attend the Amos Tuck dinner, the news outlet reported.
“As governor, I’ve resisted calls to take up gun control even when such a stand is superficially unpopular because I understand that it is precisely at those moments when a right is unpopular that it needs true champions,” DeSantis said.
