April 18, 2023 12:47 PM UTC

Ken Buck "Soft Endorses" Ron DeSantis, Says Team DeSantis

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• by: Colorado Pols

As USA TODAY’s David Jackson reports, as-yet undeclared Republican presidential candidate Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida is changing swamps for the day to court potential supporters in the nation’s capital:

The Florida governor was scheduled to attend a “meet and greet and policy discussion” sponsored by an issue advocacy organization called “And To The Republic.” The closed-press meeting was expected to include at least five Republican members of Congress, as well as potential donors and conservative activists.

DeSantis aides declined to provide details of the governor’s D.C. trip, which comes amid heightened criticism by Trump – and other Republicans – over issues like Social Security, abortion, poll numbers, and Disney…

The prospective presidential candidate has been holding similar meetings across the country for months, especially in early primary states. He has two stops scheduled for Wednesday in South Carolina, which is expected to hold the first southern primary of the 2024 GOP nomination race.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke reports that Colorado’s own Rep. Ken Buck will be in attendance for this evening’s event, which the DeSantis would-be campaign is touting as a “soft endorsement.”

Only two House Republicans, Chip Roy of Texas and Thomas Massie of Kentucky, have endorsed DeSantis. But they and six more— plus Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) — have attached their names to the DeSantis event.

Sources close to DeSantis said they see the additional lawmakers’ participation as “soft endorsements” [Pols emphasis] that will help DeSantis build momentum toward a campaign announcement, likely in the next few months.

Other House Republicans announced as taking part in the event are Bob Good (Virginia), Randy Feenstra (Iowa), Mike Gallagher (Wisconsin), Darin LaHood (Illinois), Laurel Lee (Florida), and Ken Buck (Colorado). [Pols emphasis]

Assuming Buck is willing to cop to Team DeSantis’ assessment of his attendance as a “soft endorsement,” that’s definitely setting Buck up to take the wrath of a large number of fellow Republicans back home in Colorado–including the “Ultra MAGA” faction that just won control of the state party apparatus Buck himself used to preside over. While DeSantis makes moves that signal the official launch of his campaign, Donald Trump has been laying down withering rhetorical fire on DeSantis and any proxies bold enough to come between them. And if you’re a believer in the early polling, Trump is way out in front of DeSantis in the FiveThirtyEight poll average.

Although Buck was a reliable albeit gaffe-prone defender of Trump during Trump’s term in office, Buck did not carry the torch for Trump’s coup attempt like Reps. Lauren Boebert or even Doug Lamborn. If DeSantis can by whatever combination of circumstances pull out of his 25%+ deficit in the polls to become a serious threat to Trump, obviously that’s good news for Buck.

If DeSantis falters, Buck just put himself on the wrong side of America’s most vengeful politician.