Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) will be the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Republican Party’s annual Statesman’s Dinner, which will be held this Saturday in Nashville.
“We are proud that the TNGOP’s annual Statesman’s Dinner has become a must stop on the presidential primary trail,” Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden told The Tennessee Star on Monday.
“To date, the TNGOP has hosted Sen. Tim Scott, Gov. Chris Christie, Ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence at the dinner in previous years. This year will be keynoted by Governor Ron DeSantis, and we appreciate his willingness to come to Tennessee and help us raise the necessary funds to keep our state bright red. We hope to provide a great night of fellowship for Tennessee Republicans, and look forward to hosting other candidates in the future as we move closer to the Super Tuesday GOP primary and ultimately defeating Joe Biden and ultimately defeating Joe Biden in 2024,” Golden added.
Ticket sales for Saturday’s Statesman Dinner have been brisk, but the financial success of the event has not come without some controversy.
For the first time since 2015 and 2016, there is an ongoing contested Republican primary for the party’s presidential nomination, and former President Donald Trump is far and away the leading candidate for the nomination. Among likely Republican primary voters nationwide, the most recent Real Clear Politics Average of Polls shows Trump with a 33 point lead over second-place DeSantis, 53 percent to 21 percent, with five other candidates–Mike Pence, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Chris Christie, and Vivek Ramaswamy–hovering between 1 percent and 6 percent.
The selection of DeSantis as the keynote speaker for the Tennessee Republican Party’s premiere annual event–rather than former President Trump, the clear front runner for the 2024 GOP nomination–has raised eyebrows and created some awkwardness for leading elected Republicans in the state who have endorsed Trump, as former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe noted on Monday.
According to a recent Beacon poll of Tennessee Republican primary voters, conducted from June 14 – 22, and released on July 4, Trump leads DeSantis by a whopping 45 points — 58 percent for Trump to 13 percent for DeSantis.
None of the other candidates are polling above 9 percent, and the same amount of respondents said they are undecided.
Nearly all elected Republicans who hold federal office in Tennessee have endorsed former President Donald Trump in his 2024 reelection bid.
“Under President Trump, our economy was booming, gas prices were low, and inflation was under control. Our border was secure, our adversaries feared us, & our military was strong,” said Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) in an April endorsement of Trump. “I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President and can’t wait until he’s back in the White House.”
Under President Trump, our economy was booming, gas prices were low, and inflation was under control. Our border was secure, our adversaries feared us, & our military was strong.
I am proud to endorse Donald Trump for President and can't wait until he's back in the White House. pic.twitter.com/1M9lpBNXqI
— Marsha Blackburn (@VoteMarsha) April 17, 2023
“President Trump stood up against Communist China, brought an end to Obama’s failed approach of ‘leading from behind,’ and revived our military and law enforcement as they witnessed support from their Commander-in-Chief that had been lacking — and has now gone missing again after two years of Joe Biden’s presidency,” Blackburn’s counterpart Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) said, also in April. “The mandate for a strong America has never been clearer, and I look forward to working again with President Trump to help our great nation find its way back from the precipice to the exceptional role we can and must play as a nation.”
Reps. John Rose (R-TN-06), Mark Green (R-TN-05), Diana Harshbarger (R-TN-01), Andy Ogles (R-TN-05), Chuck Fleischmann (R-TN-03) and David Kustoff (R-TN-08) have all endorsed Trump.
DeSantis is featured prominently in a video posted by the TNGOP on its website. The video includes a newscast with his reelection win in Florida from 2022, where the show’s host notes that DeSantis won by the widest margin in the modern history of Florida gubernatorial elections.
The video then cuts to DeSantis giving a speech.
“Florida held the line,” DeSantis said, referring to how Florida handled the COVID-19 pandemic. “We chose facts over fear. We chose law and order over rioting and disorder. Freedom is here to stay.”
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter.
Image “Gov Ron DeSantis” by TNGOP.
You better watch for primary & delegate rule changes along with public denials!
TN GOP is out of touch…..indeed….no more Rino’s please.
What happened to the days of President Reagan who held fast one should not speak ill of fellow Republicans? This is shaping up with Republican vs Republican with demented Joe hiding out in his basement. I would rather the party select a nominee for what they can do and not what the other cannot do. So negative….
The Republican Governors Association will take a full-throated assault on the American people for the RGA’s pick of Desanctimonious. Really quite despicable people. Trump 2024!
Hey Scott- why didn’t you ask Donald Trump? We want Donald Trump.
More evidence that the TNGOP is out of touch – on purpose.
Perhaps they should change their acronym to TNRINO.