New Hampshire lawmaker flips endorsement to Trump after DeSantis’ ‘miserable launch’

A New Hampshire state representative switched her allegiances to former President Trump on Thursday after being “less than impressed” with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ glitch-filled campaign launch announcement. 

State Rep. Sandra Panek, whom the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC included in a list of more than 50 Granite State lawmakers backing the Florida governor for president earlier this month, argued Thursday that the stakes in 2024 are too high to back a candidate that can’t smoothly get their campaign off the ground.   

“After being less than impressed with Ron DeSantis’s official announcement last night, I am hereby switching my endorsement to President Donald J. Trump,” Panek said in a statement blasted out by the Trump campaign.

“We can’t expect someone to run the country if they can’t properly run their own campaign launch. The stakes are simply too great in 2024 to take a chance on someone as unreliable as DeSantis — we need a proven winner like President Trump to take back the White House and Make America Great Again!”

Panek further told The Post on Thursday that the technical difficulties during DeSantis’ Twitter Spaces announcement left her unable to hear anything the latest entrant into the 2024 GOP presidential race said.

“Twitter Spaces didn’t support iPad users, so I couldn’t even listen to the DeSantis launch,” Panek said. “Not one TV news outlet could report on it. This was a miserable launch. Too much stumbling and bumbling.”

When asked if factors other than the bumpy campaign announcement contributed to her switch, Panek doubled down on the Florida governor’s rollout and also said he wasn’t charismatic enough. 

“With DeSantis, you’re getting Trump without the charisma. I want the real deal,” she said.

“The rollout campaign launch was too chaotic. Not well thought out,” Panek argued. “Trump has the experience and a proven track record. DeSantis is not quite ready.” 

Panek’s switch follows her colleague, New Hampshire state Rep. Juliet Harvey-Bolia, scrapping her “dual endorsement” of both Trump and DeSantis to solely Trump after the governor’s Wednesday launch.

“I’m proud to announce my full endorsement for President Trump, and only Trump. He’ll keep us out of war and prosperous as he has in the past. Ron DeSantis will make a great candidate in 2028. I expect Republicans will unite behind President Trump,” Harvey-Bolia wrote on Twitter.

The DeSantis campaign revealed on Thursday that it has raised $8.2 million in the 24 hours since the Sunshine State governor’s Twitter Spaces event. 

Trump leads DeSantis by double digits in nearly every 2024 GOP primary poll. 

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