DeSantis scores first congressional endorsement over Trump, from Texas Rep. Chip Roy

Trump’s support runs deep in the Freedom Caucus, and among Texas Republicans.

Rep. Troy Nehls declared his “complete and total endorsement” on Nov. 15, the day Trump announced his comeback bid. Another Houston-area lawmaker, Rep. Wesley Hunt, called Trump “exactly the man American needs to save our nation from its rapid decline.”

Rep. Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Trump’s White House physician, called him “the ONLY PERSON who can save America in 2024!!!”

But Roy, among other Republicans, argues that the party would fare better by moving on.

On Saturday night, Trump’s vice president, Mike Pence, issued a blistering rebuke at the annual white tie Gridiron dinner, at which members of the Washington press corps lampoon politicians.

“History will hold Donald Trump accountable for Jan. 6,” Pence said.

It was his toughest condemnation since a mob invaded the U.S. Capitol, some calling for his murder.

Roy has likewise distanced himself from Trump. He was one of just four Texas Republicans in the House who voted to affirm all of Biden’s electoral victories the day of the riot.

Trump sought payback last May, backing New York Rep. Elise Stefanik over Roy to replace then-Rep. Liz Cheney as the No. 3 GOP leader.

“Can’t imagine Republican House Members would go with Chip Roy — he has not done a great job, and will probably be successfully primaried in his own district,” Trump said at the time, two months after Roy sailed through a four-way primary with 83%.

Roy touted DeSantis’ “non-politically correct” stances, referring to his scuffle with Disney – his state’s largest private employer – over the so-called “don’t say gay” law that limits discussion in schools of sexual orientation and gender identity.

DeSantis managed to upstage Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who’d been sending migrants to Washington on busses, by flying migrants from San Antonio to Martha’s Vineyard, a Massachusetts resort island.

“He stared down woke corporate America and higher education. And he stood with Texas in defense of our border,” Roy said.

The Texan alluded in his endorsement to the fact that Trump, for all his bluster and popularity among the GOP base, has a mediocre record in elections.

Strategists in both parties say Trump was a huge drag on other Republicans in 2018, when Roy won his seat, and again in 2020 and 2022.

DeSantis has openly questioned U.S. support for helping Ukraine repel the Russian invasion.

He told Fox News host Tucker Carlson this week that the United States has no vital national security interest at stake in that war.

That appalled national security hawks in the party of Ronald Reagan.

Roy didn’t address the controversy head-on, but said the governor has the “resolve and sober strength” needed, and as a veteran, “he recognizes that a military is best when it is strong, non-politically correct, and lethal – while being sparingly but decisively used and not mired in endless, protracted military engagements all around the globe.”