Sabatini Drops Out of House Race After Trump Endorses Opponent

(Dreamstime)

Former Florida Republican legislator Anthony Sabatini on Thursday dropped out of the GOP primary for his congressional race, hours after Donald Trump endorsed his opponent, incumbent U.S. Rep. Daniel Webster.

“Today, Donald Trump endorsed the incumbent in my race,” Sabatini wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. “I don’t always agree with Donald Trump’s endorsements, but I understand the political reality of what they are. Tonight, I am withdrawing from District 11, and I will be running for the Lake County Commission. We need stronger Republicans in local office fighting for the America 1st agenda. District 11 will have to wait for another day.”

Sabatini has been a staunch Trump supporter — in 2021 he sponsored an amendment to name one of the state’s highways after Trump — and has been attacking Webster for months as a RINO — Republican in name only.

Following Trump’s convictions in New York last month, Sabatini posted a photo of himself with Trump captioned, “AMERICA STANDS WITH DONALD J TRUMP!!!!”

Trump endorsed Webster after meeting with GOP lawmakers.

“Congressman Daniel Webster is doing a terrific job representing Florida’s 11th Congressional District,” Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social. “As a successful businessman, Daniel knows how to Fight Inflation, Grow the Economy, Lower Taxes, and Eliminate Government Waste. Daniel is working hard to Secure the Border, Protect our Elections, Support our Great Military/Veterans, and Defend our always-under-siege Second Amendment. Daniel Webster has my Complete and Total Endorsement — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!”

Webster slammed Sabatini as an “aspiring career politician” in a statement Friday.

“This is the second time Anthony Sabatini filed against me for Florida’s 11th District just to later withdraw from the race,” Webster wrote, citing Sabatini’s aborted run in the district in 2022 before switching to challenge Cory Mills in District 7. Mills defeated Sabatini in the GOP primary and was elected to Congress that November.

“After seeing his defeat against Rep. Cory Mills last cycle, I had hoped Anthony would reflect and run a campaign focused on the grave issues facing our country,” Webster wrote. “Instead, he continued to lower himself with lies and mistruths about my proven conservative record until nothing remained of his character.”