DeSantis, Rubio, Scott Headline Florida’s RNC Speakers

The 2024 Republican National Convention is well underway in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, formalizing the nomination of Donald Trump and J.D. Vance as the GOP’s presidential ticket this November. The gathering is drawing Republican and conservative leaders from the public and private sectors across the country, including candidates and officials in multiple levels of government. Among those are a healthy delegation of Florida Republicans, including Gov. Ron DeSantis and senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott. Alongside those headlining guests, Florida will also see four of its delegation to the House of Representatives speak at the event: Matt Gaetz, Michael Waltz, Byron Donalds, and Brian Mast. Waltz represents an area that includes all of Flagler and Volusia counties, plus parts of St. Johns and Lake counties. DeSantis was among those who tossed their hat in the ring against Trump for the 2024 presidential nomination, initially polling not far off from the former president before trailing off over the course of the primaries. With his final term as Florida Governor expiring in 2026, his political future remains uncertain. Rubio also ran against Trump once, in 2016 when the party was still adjusting to his radically different communication style and hard-right policy platform. Though Rubio hung in longer than most, he’d eventually back Trump for president and keep his job in the Senate. Most recently he was reported to be a favorite for Trump’s vice presidential pick, but ultimately lost out to freshman Ohio Senator J.D. Vance. The decision to give speaking slots to some of the party’s most controversial figures – Georgian Marjorie Taylor Greene and Florida’s Matt Gaetz among them – underscore the party’s determination to proceed without concern for outside criticism of its most far-right members. Still, Gaetz, a member of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, endures scandal not entirely of a political nature; Gaetz has been accused of sexual harassment, illicit drug use, and sex trafficking minors. Still, the controversies of some of its most polarizing members has not been the theme Republicans are embracing most during the convention. “Our border is a disaster, crime infests our cities, the federal government makes it harder for families to make ends meet, and the president flounders,” DeSantis said during his Tuesday remarks. “But decline is a choice, success is attainable, and freedom is worth fighting for.” Rubio’s speech urged the party away from taking matters into their own hands to force change – at least beyond the avenues set out in the structure of the republic. “Fight, not with violence or destruction, but with our voices and our votes,” Rubio said. “Fight not against each other but for the hopes and dreams we share in common that make us one and fight for an America where we are safe from those who seek to harm us.” Rick Scott, Florida’s junior senator currently working for a second six-year term in office, took a somewhat more confrontational tone than his senatorial colleague. “We have to fight every day to stop the radical Democrats from absolutely destroying our great country,” he said. “They will lose, we will win.” Other major figures on the speaker schedule include RNC Chairman Michael Whatley, presidential ticket nominees Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, 2024 presidential candidate Nikki Fried, UFC CEO Dana White, and televangelist Franklin Graham.