At an event at Mar-a-Lago, Donald Trump praised Rep. Randy Fine for flipping his endorsement for President to back Trump. But he mistakenly inferred the lifelong Republican had changed parties to do it.
"Randy Fine, who just came over from a party known as the Democrat Party," Trump said.
In reality, Fine has never been a registered Democrat. He had previously endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis for President in 2024, but made headlines when he publicly shifted his support to Trump.
Fine stood alongside Trump at the recent Florida Freedom Summit in Orlando, with several other state lawmakers shifting their allegiance from DeSantis to Trump.
On Thursday, Trump hosted Florida political leaders — including Republican Party of Florida members, congressional lawmakers and Florida legislative leaders endorsing him — for a special event at his estate in Palm Beach County. Fine was there as well, and Trump spotlighted him by name, but with the wrong party background.
Fine made clear to Florida he has always been registered as a Republican.
"I registered as a Republican on my 18th birthday and have never been anything but one," Fine told Florida Politics. "President Trump was obviously being tongue-in-cheek and saying that by being a longtime DeSantis supporter I must have been a Democrat. Because to him, Republicans support Trump."
But Trump not only misidentified Fine's party registration, but discussed the Democratic Party at length. He talked about how he personally uses the term "Democrat" instead of "Democratic," knowing it irritates Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat.
"They used to call it the Democratic Party. Schumer wants it because it sounds better, it flows better. it sounds better in a speech," Trump said. "But I said because it sounds better let's not do it, because it is officially the Democrat Party. Doesn't sound as good."
He then turned directed comments toward Fine.
"He just came over and we appreciate it," Trump said before asking Fine to be pointed out in the room. "Randy, that was a big deal. It was a very big deal, and we appreciate it."
It was, in fact, a big deal. Fine has endorsed DeSantis along with 98 other Florida lawmakers just as the Governor launched his own campaign for President. But amid rising antisemitism in Florida and war breaking out between Israel and Hamas, Fine said he felt moved to endorse Trump instead.
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