President Donald Trump endorsed two Republicans to replace former Florida Reps. Michael Waltz (Trump’s new National Security Advisor) and Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick for Attorney General who resigned from the House and later withdrew his nomination before the House Ethics Committee released its Gaetz investigation.
Trump’s pick to fill Gaetz’s seat is Florida’s chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis, who will face gun violence activist Gay Valimont, who ran unopposed in the Democratic primary. The special election is scheduled for April 1.
(Trump’s pick to fill Waltz’s seat, Florida State Senator Randy Fine, will face Democratic school teacher Josh Weil.)
After watching the contentious televised meeting of Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Ukrainian President Zelensky, Patronis joined the MAGA messages berating Zelensky for his attire by writing on X: “When you meet with @realDonaldTrump & @VP, you wear a suit!”
Patronis took it one step further and wrote: “And buy a razor and shave.”
And buy a razor and shave.
— Jimmy Patronis (@JimmyPatronis) February 28, 2025
Note: Trump’s DOGE leader Elon Musk often meets with Trump and Vance in the Oval Office in jeans and a t-shirt and Vance, of course, wears a beard similar to Zelensky’s. Saturday Night Live noted the contradiction this weekend in a skit featuring Mike Myers as Musk — see below.
Note: If both Patronis and Fine win their general-election contests, they would cement Republicans’ narrow majority in the House (Republicans currently have 218 seats; Democrats have 215) and free Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) to leave the House and become Trump’s new U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.