A Republican-led proposal in Florida could be the key to solving former President Donald Trump’s legal woes, as it looks to establish a multimillion-dollar fund to support Sunshine State residents running for president.
Republican state Sen. Ileana Garcia filed a proposal on Monday to create the “Freedom Fighters Fund,” which would provide financial assistance to Florida residents facing legal action. These residents specifically would need to be running for the White House, and the proposal comes one day after Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) suspended his campaign for president.
The fund would take $5 million from the state’s Public Campaign Finance — Matching Funds Program. Other funding would come from voluntary donations through driver’s license registrations, per Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis’s office. The funding would be allocated from the CFO to “credible candidates.”
Trump is the only president in history to face criminal indictments, let alone four of them, so the Freedom Fighters Fund would exclusively apply to Trump in this election cycle. The former president lives in the Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.
“We’re in the midst of an historic moment where we’re watching an election that’s trying to be stolen by Left wing prosecutors, the Biden Administration and even Blue States,” Garcia said in a statement. “They’re not trying to win at the ballot box; they’re trying to keep President Trump off the ballot by weaponizing the courts. Having a Floridian in the White House is good for our state — and anything we can do to support Florida Presidential candidates, like President Trump, will not only benefit our state, but our nation.”
The proposal is the latest signal of how Trump is favored as the leader of the Republican Party, particularly in Florida. DeSantis suspended his campaign after a second-place finish in the Iowa caucuses and an expected loss to both Trump and former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley in the New Hampshire primary on Tuesday.
Patronis, who has held the role since 2017, is backing Garcia’s fund proposal. He endorsed Trump less than an hour after DeSantis dropped out.
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“We need this Freedom Fighters Fund because the Free State of Florida is facing an onslaught of attacks from the federal government,” Patronis said in a release. “If we can help a Florida candidate for the White House that’s good from a dollars and cents perspective.”
“From all the decisions the federal government makes with regard to military installations, to roads, to disaster aid — it’s in Florida’s best interest to make sure their champion for the President is allowed a fair shot at the White House without being taken down by some fake witch-hunt,” the chief financial officer continued.
