Wadi Gaitan became the Florida GOP’s top spokesman one month before Donald Trump entered the Republican primary race.
Just over a year later, Gaitan confirmed Monday that he’s leaving the party to avoid helping the Republican nominee’s campaign any further.
“I’m thankful for my almost two years with the Florida GOP, however, moving on gives me a great, new opportunity to continue promoting free market solutions while avoiding efforts that support Donald Trump,” Gaitan said in a statement to BuzzFeed News.
Gaitan declined to comment further, but those closest to the conservative, who is of Honduran descent, said he couldn’t stand by Trump’s repeated attacks on the Hispanic community.
“His job was getting difficult with the indefensible things being said about immigrants,” one anonymous friend told BuzzFeed.
Gaitan is credited with the success of Florida’s Sunshine Summit, one of the state’s most high-profile events of the primary season. He is departing the state party for the LIBRE Initiative, a conservative non-profit focused on promoting Hispanic-owned businesses.
