We’ve been covering the Florida state legislature from this perspective for some time now, as the degree to which Florida Republicans are beholden to DeSantis’ political objectives became increasingly clear. Each and every one of bills introduced in the state legislature attacking “wokeness,” diversity initiatives in schools, voting rights and the LGBT community in the past year have appeared hand-made to capture the attention of the furthest-right members of the MAGA base on a national level as DeSantis weighs a 2024 bid.

As DeSantis gears up to finally announce he’s running at the end of his state’s legislative session this month, his Republican friends in the state house gave him one final treat: the legislature passed several sweeping new restrictions on voting rights, and a change to election law that allows DeSantis to run for president and remain governor.

Republicans’ inability to find their footing in a post-Roe America remains an omnipresent issue not just for the GOP as a whole, but one that is increasingly tripping up nearly every Republican with 2024 ambitions.

Two more Republican members of Florida’s congressional delegation have completely ignored Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ plea to hold off on endorsing Donald Trump while he tricks absolutely no one into thinking he’s still mulling a presidential election.

Reps. Greg Steube and John Rutherford announced this week that they’re throwing their weight behind the other Florida resident’s 2024 bid, both issuing Trump endorsements dripping with MAGA flair.

Last week we unpacked how Sen. Tim Scott’s (R-SC) dodgy messaging on abortion in New Hampshire and Iowa during his soft launch of a possible 2024 campaign was emblematic of the omnipresent issue the Republican Party faces: that it has no idea how to message where it stands on the issue to a national audience.

Republican strategists both publicly and privately have been sounding the alarm for weeks, urging the party to figure out how to coalesce behind specific messaging. Some have suggested coalescing behind Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) proposed 15-week ban as a policy supposedly moderate enough to fly in the 2024 general election, particularly among independent voters who have voted with Democrats on the issue in recent elections.