U.S. Rep. María Elvira Salazar, whose district includes Key Biscayne, got in line with most of her GOP colleagues on Tuesday and endorsed former President Donald J. Trump for the Republican nomination.
Salazar posted a photo of herself on social media with Trump, saying that when the twice-impeached former president occupied the White House there was no inflation, no socialist policies, no open borders – among other items.
The congresswoman did not wade into the election denial conspiracy which is the center of Trump’s re-election bid. He also faces 91 charges across four criminal cases and recently was ordered to pay $354 million for committing fraud through his businesses and $83 million to E. Jean Carroll for defamation after a judge determined he was liable for raping her.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and insists he was duly elected president in 2020 despite zero evidence to the contrary. In the last month, U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson rejected bipartisan legislation to address the border crisis and aid to Ukraine and Israel – both bills which were opposed by Trump.
Salazar did not respond to an email for further comment.
Her posting on X, formerly Twitter, got responses from Trump supporters lambasting her for voting for the Jan. 6 Commission to look into the former president’s role in the insurrection, as well as waiting until most of the GOP primary field – such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – had dropped out of the race.
Salazar was part of a red wave of Republican women elected to the House in 2020, upsetting former Rep. Donna Shalala. She easily won re-election two years ago.
This year, the former TV news anchor for Telemundo is facing three primary challengers. Her potential Democratic opponent recently ran a campaign ad slamming Salazar for voting against $24 million in federal for her district.
In an interview with CBS News, Salazar couldn’t recall her votes on House bills – and at one point needed to ask her staff about them.
Florida’s District 27 is traditionally purple with Republicans and Democrats holding the seat recently. The Cook Political Report rated the district recently as being “Solid Republican” even though it noted that it had no partisan lean to one party or the other.
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JOHN PACENTI is the executive editor of the Key Biscayne Independent. John has worked for The Associated Press, the Palm Beach Post, Daily Business Review, and WPTV-TV.