At a June 16 campaign stop in Milton, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins took an interesting step, if you will, in formulating his response to a quip from the campaign of U.S. Rep Byron Donalds, the Republican front runner in the race for governor.
Reacting to a reporter question about the Donalds’ campaign brushing off debating his opponents by saying “there are not participation trophies in politics,” the twice-battle injured former Special Operations soldier removed his prosthetic lower leg.
“That participation trophy line is a bit of a slap in the face,” he said as he placed the artificial limb on the podium from which he was speaking. “This is my participation trophy.”
Collins said Donalds’ reticence to set up a debate with himself, former House Speaker Paul Renner and others in the GOP field ahead of an Aug. 18 primary only serves to prevent the voting public from weighing what each candidate brings to the table.
“If you have everything going for you, why don’t you want to debate?” he asked.
Speaking surrounded by law enforcement officers, guns of seemingly every make and model and a crowd of about 30 at the Grey Man Armory in Milton, Collins spoke volumes without mentioning that at this moment in time Donalds truly does have everything going for him.
Donalds got the all-important Trump endorsement, has more than $80 million in the bank and a big lead in most polls.
Collins expects Gov. Ron DeSantis endorsement in Florida governor race
But, the Ron DeSantis-appointee as lieutenant governor hinted that he might, even as the August primary draws close, be able to finagle a last-minute endorsement from the governor.
“When Ron DeSantis decides to jump into the fray, you will have no doubt about it,” he declared.
Reports indicate that a DeSantis endorsement might give the Collins’ campaign a significant boost, but according to Collins he’s been hearing the governor praise him since he came on as lieutenant governor.
“Did you listen to what Gov. DeSantis said when he selected me to be lieutenant governor? He called me the Chuck Norris of Florida. He said ‘if something were to happen to me, Jay Collins could step in and lead on Day 1,’ ” Collins said. “And Ron DeSantis is not one to wax philosophical.”
Collins said he works in the Governor’s Office and knows where DeSantis and his administration stand, but he said he also knows that DeSantis endorsing him early on would have created a DeSantis versus Trump dynamic that would have served no one’s interest.
Collins did not touch on DeSantis’ apparently now defunct positioning of his own wife, Casey DeSantis, for a possible run for Florida’s highest office.
Collins actually waited until fairly deep into his campaign stump speech before Donalds’ name ever came up. He said his purpose for the Santa Rosa County visit was to address gun rights and the role of law enforcement.
“I’m here today to talk about two things that go together, the Second Amendment and public safety. Those two things are completely linked,” he said. “For too long, Washington and other states have tried to convince Americans that these are opposing values. I’m here to tell you they are not.”
Collins said that as governor he would work to repeal red flag laws, laws passed in 2018 following the shooting deaths of 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The red flag laws permit courts to seize firearms temporarily from a person believed to pose a danger to themselves or others.
Collins pushes to repeal red flag
He said he wants to restore due process to those who have had guns unfairly taken from them as a result of the laws. Too often, Collins said, guns are seized based on questionable motives and the victims of such seizures are deprived of their right to recourse.
“Due process for law-abiding citizens will give our sheriffs an opportunity to lead, to protect our communities and make a difference,” he said. “The Constitution is not an option, it’s the founding framework of our nation. We don’t lose our rights based on accusations.”
He also wants to fight for legalization of bump stocks. Bump stocks, which he referred to as “an accessory,” allow semi-automatic rifle owners to retrofit their weapons to fire at rates similar to those of automatic weapons.
Collins says he’ll also fight to return the legal age to buy a firearm to 18.
“If the nation trusts an 18-year-old with a weapon in Kandahar (Afghanistan), they should trust them right here in Milton,” he said.
When he turned to the topic of Donalds, Collins spoke of his opponent as soft on crime, pointing out that Donalds had supported loosening penalties on “serial shoplifters.”
He said he would never attack Trump for endorsing Donalds, and boasted of voting for the president three times and re-enlisting in the military, as an amputee, in his first term of office. Collins said he’s of the belief the endorsement went out before Trump became aware of his candidacy.
Donalds, he said, is running a Washington insider-style political campaign while benefiting from his seat in Congress.
“All the day trading and insider trading he’s doing makes Nancy Pelosi look like a chump,” he said, referencing the never popular among Republicans former U.S. House Speaker.
In the end, though, he did offer an ever so slight nod to his opposition.
“I have nothing against Byron Donalds,” he said. “There are a lot of people I can get along with who I don’t want running Florida. Byron Donalds is on that list.”
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Lt. Gov. Jay Collins uses own prosthetic leg to make ‘trophy’ point
Reporting by Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tom McLaughlin, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
