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Some prominent references to President Trump were scrubbed from Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds’ campaign website in recent weeks — but the Republican said Wednesday he isn’t backing away from the president’s agenda.
During an onstage interview at the Sunshine Economy Summit, Donalds said his campaign has “been working on website changes for, like, two months now.” He said the changes are meant to reinforce the campaign’s key policy themes ahead of the general election, including affordability.
“These are the issues we talk about every day on the campaign trail,” he told Tom Hudson of public media organization WLRN. “For the general election, the voters of Florida want to know the policies you’re going to implement to make their lives better. And so, we wanted to make sure that the website fully reflected the vision and the policies for the future of Florida.”
Asked whether the changes suggest that he no longer intends to “enact the Trump agenda,” a phrase that his campaign site previously listed as one of its top issues, Donalds said: “No, I think that’s a separate question.”
Donalds called the president’s agenda a “common-sense agenda” that is “centered around law and order, sound markets, making sure that we secure our nation’s borders, making sure that we continue to work with the federal government when it comes to immigration policy.”
The summit, which was hosted by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, also featured an interview with Donalds’ opponent, Democratic nominee David Jolly.
Previously, Donalds’ status as a staunch Trump ally was difficult to miss. The site’s homepage noted several times that Donalds was endorsed by Mr. Trump, and it featured a photo of the president and the congressman giving thumbs-up signs to the camera, according to an archived version of the site from earlier this month. The website’s “Issues” page was also topped by a promise to “Enact the Trump Agenda.”
Now, Donalds’ nod from the president still appears on a scrolling list of endorsements from conservative figures, and his role as a 2024 Trump campaign surrogate is mentioned, but the president’s name does not appear as extensively. The “Issues” page also no longer names the president, instead leading with the slogan: “Accountable, Achievable, Affordable!”
The changes, first reported by the Miami Herald on Tuesday, drew nationwide attention and generated speculation about whether Donalds is seeking to keep the president at arm’s length.
Donalds has closely aligned himself with the president for years. Ahead of the 2024 race, he endorsed Mr. Trump over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the GOP primary.
Mr. Trump endorsed Donalds last year, shortly before he formally launched his campaign.
“Byron Donalds would be a truly Great and Powerful Governor for Florida and, should he decide to run, will have my Complete and Total Endorsement,” Mr. Trump said. “RUN, BYRON, RUN!”
