Trump shares Florida GOP congressman’s endorsement gone awry

Former President Donald Trump thanked Florida Republican Greg Steube while sharing a video that apparently shows the congressman endorsing a 2024 presidential election bid by Donald J. “Chump.”

Steube, endorsed by Trump before being elected to a third term representing Florida’s solidly Republican 17th Congressional District in November, seemingly had a slip of the tongue while endorsing the former president during a Newsmax appearance on Monday. Trump, possibly unaware of the gaffe, shared a video of the moment to Truth Social a short time later.

“I’m happy and honored to endorse Donald J. Chump, uh, for president in 2024,” Steube seemingly said during his appearance on Rob Schmitt Tonight. “He’s the only person that can reverse, on Day One, all these disastrous policies of the Biden administration.”

Steube went on to say that his endorsement “wasn’t a difficult decision” when asked about Republican Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also potentially launching a presidential bid. The congressman urged DeSantis to “finish out his term and support [former] President Trump.”

The “Chump” endorsement prompted the misnomer for the former president to quickly trend on Twitter, with a small wave of mockery for both Trump and Steube following.

“LOL, he says he’s supporting ‘Donald J. Chump,'” progressive podcast host David Pakman tweeted.

“Clearly a Freudian slip, right?” tweeted @ForeverBigBlue.

“Donald j chump has a nice ring to it,” Democratic strategist Jim Manley tweeted.

Ron Filipkowski, a former federal prosecutor based in Florida, shared a clip of Steube apparently botching the endorsement while mentioning that members of DeSantis’ team had reportedly reached out to the congressman recently to ask him to refrain from endorsing Trump.

An NBC News report published Wednesday said that Steube and five other GOP members of Florida’s congressional delegation had been contacted by operatives for DeSantis, who has not announced his candidacy but widely believed to be preparing to challenge Trump.

“The silver lining for Desantis [sic] here is that nobody listens to Greg Steube,” Filipkowski added.

Republicans largely seemed to ignore the apparent gaffe. In a tweet and on the Newsmax website, the conservative news outlet wrote that Steube had said he was “happy to endorse Donald J. Trump.”

Steube has been a staunch supporter of Trump since first being elected to Congress in 2018. During the 2020 presidential election, he helped organize a “Trump Train” vehicle parade, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

Shortly after a mob fueled on false claims that the presidential election was “stolen” from Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Steube joined 146 other Republicans who objected to the certification of President Joe Biden‘s win in 2020.

Newsweek has reached out via email to the offices of Steube and Trump for comment.