The leading Republican candidate for governor has launched a campaign ad that amounts to a full-on embrace of the president in a way that’s unprecedented in the age of Trump.
Rep. Ron DeSantis helps his toddler daughter Madison play with cardboard building blocks in one scene, while he tells her to ‘build the wall.’
In another he pretends to read a copy of ‘The Art of the Deal’ to his infant son Mason, narrating: ‘Then Mr. Trump said, “You’re fired!” I love that par.
President Trump endorsed Rep. Ron DeSantis’ bid for Florida governor, and the Iraq War veteran returned the favor in a new ad
DeSantis is pictured in the 30-second spot using a Trump campaign sign to teach his toddler daughter how to read
Latter he teaches Madison how to talk, prompting her with ‘Make America Great Again’ and tells a crib-bound Mason: ‘Big league. So good.’
The four-month-old boy looks up at him, waring a onesie with Trump’s iconic campaignslogan printed on it.
The Iraq War veteran’s wife Casey chuckles in the 30-second spot that ‘everyone knows my husband Ron DeSantis is endorsed by President Trump. But he’s also an amazing dad.’
‘People say Ron’s all Trump, but he is so much more,’ she says.
In another clip, he reads to his infant son from ‘The Art of the Deal’
The four-month-old boy is shown in a onesie bearing the ‘MAGA’ message
A spokesman for DeSantis, 39, told reporters on Monday that the ad is meant as a reinforcement of Trump’s full-throated endorsement as he travels to Tampa for a Tuesday night campaign rally.
It’s also ‘just a bit of humor,’ the flack said.
Donald Trump Jr. has also lent the family name to DeSantis, appearing with him this month in Orlando.
‘Ron DeSantis was there from Day 1,’ he said, referring to the 2016 campaign. ‘He was with us when it wasn’t exactly cool to be with us. … When we were at zero per cent.’
The president’s endorsement also came ‘because he knows I’m a leader,’ DeSantis said at the same event, according to an Associated Press report.
The presdident endorsed DeSantis in June, and is heading to Florida Tuesday night for a supportive rally in Tampa
DeSantis’ with Casey jokes that ‘People say Ron’s all Trump, but he is so much more’
DeSantis is locked in a primary battle with Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and six other, lesser-known candidates.
Rep. Gwen Graham leads the seven-person Democratic primary field in most polls, with Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine typically in second place.
The primaries will be held August 28 in the Sunshine State.
President Trump delivered a Twitter endorsement of DeSantis five weeks ago, writing that he was ‘a top student at Yale and Harvard Law School’ and is ‘strong on Borders, tough on Crime & big on Cutting Taxes.’