David Jolly is a real profile in courage. He’s tried to have it both ways with the Republican presidential frontrunner: In December, Jolly generated national headlines by calling on Donald Trump to drop out of the race from the House floor, but soon thereafter got caught sending a fundraising pitch with a the subject line “Donald Trump and I agree,” that highlighted their similarities.
Now that Trump has won his third early voting contest, Jolly is making another calculated decision to benefit his political career and is trying to align himself with the GOP frontrunner. From the Tampa Bay Times:
“It would be very safe to just fall in line and get behind Marco Rubio, But we have to recognize what we are seeing in the polls is real. The voters are speaking, and Trump is resonating, ” said Jolly, R-Indian Shores.
So in summary:
- THEN: Jolly called out Trump for his “brutal, bullying bigotry”
- NOW: Applauds Trump’s tone and highlights their shared priorities.
- THEN: Jolly said that if Trump is the nominee, he would be crushed in the general election and would lose Republicans the Senate and put the House at risk
- NOW: Won’t rule = out endorsing Trump, saying that Trump is resonating with voters and predicting that he will win the presidential primary in Florida.
“Congressman David Jolly’s sole concern is his own political career, so if Donald Trump continues to rise then Jolly will hitch his own aspirations to the GOP frontrunner,” said Lauren Passalacqua, DSCC National Press Secretary. “His lack of conviction is alarming, and shows that he’s nothing more than a typical Washington politician who would rather follow polls than lead.”
