GOP governor candidate’s campaign website removes some references to Trump

Joe Raedle/Getty Images/File

The GOP candidate for Florida governor , Rep. Byron Donalds, has removed several references to Donald Trump from his campaign website, as a growing number of Republicans try to distance themselves from the unpopular president ahead of elections taking place this fall.

Earlier this month, the landing page of the campaign website touted the fact that Trump had endorsed Donalds, proclaiming him a “Trump-endorsed Proven Conservative Fighter,” and included a photo of Trump with Donalds and his wife, according to an archived version of the site captured by the Internet Archive.

Now, the a new version of the site features Trump’s endorsement less prominently in a moving carousel of quotes praising Donalds that includes comments from tech billionaire Elon Musk, the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, and House Speaker Mike Johnson, among others. Trump’s endorsement is also noted in a separate part of the website called “Endorsements.” That change and other removals of Trump’s name were first reported by the Miami Herald.

A Donalds campaign spokesperson dismissed the importance of the website changes in a statement, saying Donalds “is proud to have President Trump’s endorsement, and has real policy proposals” to tackle the issues most important to Floridians.

In a statement to CNN, White House spokesman Davis Ingle didn’t directly address the changes. “President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party,” he said.

The change comes as Republicans contend with the possibility that Trump’s unpopularity may cut into their election results in November, and break with the figure that has dominated the party for a decade. Another Florida Republican, Rep. María Elvira Salazar, has released an ad saying Trump’s immigration crackdown had “gone too far.” Last week, two vulnerable House Republicans from Iowa voted for the first time to rein in Trump’s Iran war powers. A new CNN/SSRS poll finds only 26% of Americans say they approve of the president’s handling of the situation in Iran.

Donalds, a staunch conservative who is hoping to replace term-limited Gov. Ron DeSantis and become the Sunshine State’s first Black governor, is facing former Rep. David Jolly, who left the Republican Party in 2018 and officially became a Democrat last year.

While a Democrat hasn’t won the Florida governor seat in nearly three decades, CNN previously reported that some Donalds supporters were uneasy after he clinched the Republican nomination with just under 50% of the vote, despite campaigning for more than a year with Trump’s endorsement and the backing of much of the state GOP establishment.

Meanwhile, Democrats are on the offensive, hoping to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity and pick up wins in states like Kansas, Texas and Florida. Trump’s approval is around 36%, according to the CNN Poll of Polls , which tracks Trump’s average approval and disapproval ratings in national polls.

CNN’s Patrick Svitek and Annie Grayer contributed to this report.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images/文件

佛罗里达州州长共和党候选人、众议员拜伦·唐纳兹已从其竞选网站上删除了多处提及唐纳德·特朗普的内容，越来越多的共和党人试图在今年秋季的选举前与这位不受欢迎的总统保持距离。

根据互联网档案馆保存的网站存档版本显示，本月初，竞选网站的首页大肆宣传特朗普已支持唐纳德斯，称他为“特朗普支持的久经考验的保守派斗士”，并附上了一张特朗普与唐纳德斯及其妻子的合影。

如今，该网站的新版本不再像以前那样突出特朗普的背书，而是以轮播图的形式展示赞扬唐纳德·特朗普的言论，其中包括科技亿万富翁埃隆·马斯克、已故保守派活动家查理·柯克以及众议院议长迈克·约翰逊等人的评论。特朗普的背书也出现在网站名为“背书”的独立版块中。迈阿密先驱报率先报道了这一变化以及其他移除特朗普名字的举措。

唐纳德竞选团队发言人在一份声明中淡化了网站更改的重要性，称唐纳德“很荣幸获得特朗普总统的支持，并提出了真正的政策建议”来解决佛罗里达州人民最关心的问题。

白宫发言人戴维斯·英格尔在给CNN的一份声明中没有直接回应这些变化。他说：“特朗普总统是共和党无可争议的领袖、最佳代言人和无与伦比的激励者。”

这一变化正值共和党人担忧特朗普的低支持率可能会影响其11月大选的成绩，并试图与这位主导该党十年的人物决裂之际。另一位佛罗里达州的共和党众议员玛丽亚·埃尔维拉·萨拉萨尔发布了一则广告，称特朗普的移民打压“做得太过火了”。上周，两位来自爱荷华州、选情岌岌可危的共和党众议员首次投票支持限制特朗普的伊朗战争权力。CNN/SSRS的一项最新民调显示，仅有26%的美国人表示赞同总统对伊朗局势的处理方式。

坚定的保守派人士唐纳兹希望取代任期届满的州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯，成为阳光之州的第一位黑人州长。他的对手是前众议员大卫·乔利，乔利于 2018 年离开共和党，并于去年正式成为民主党人。

虽然近三十年来民主党人从未赢得过佛罗里达州州长席位，但据 CNN 此前报道，尽管唐纳德在特朗普的背书和该州大部分共和党建制派的支持下进行了超过一年的竞选，但他最终以略低于 50% 的得票率锁定共和党提名，这让一些唐纳德的支持者感到不安。

与此同时，民主党人发起攻势，希望利用特朗普的低支持率，在堪萨斯州、德克萨斯州和佛罗里达州等州赢得胜利。根据CNN民调汇总（该汇总追踪特朗普在全国民调中的平均支持率和反对率），特朗普的支持率约为36%。

CNN的Patrick Svitek和Annie Grayer对本报道亦有贡献。