Some prominent references to President Trump were removed from Florida gubernatorial candidate Byron Donalds’ campaign website in recent weeks, but the Republican said Wednesday that he will not stray from the president’s agenda. During an onstage interview at the Sunshine Economy Summit, Donalds said his campaign has “been working on website changes for about two months.” He said the changes are intended to reinforce key policy themes of the campaign ahead of the general election, including affordability. “These are the issues we talked about every day during the election campaign,” he told Tom Hudson of public media organization WLRN. “For the general election, Florida voters want to know the policies they are going to implement to improve their lives. So we wanted to make sure the website fully reflected the vision and policies for Florida’s future.” Asked if the changes suggest he no longer intends to “enact Trump’s agenda,” a phrase his campaign site previously listed as one of his top themes, Donalds said, “No, I think that’s a separate question.” “a common sense agenda” that is “focused on law and order, strong markets, on making sure that we secure our nation’s borders, on making sure that we continue to work with the federal government when it comes to immigration policy.” The summit, which was hosted by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance, also included an interview with Donalds’ opponent, Democratic candidate David Jolly. Previously, it was difficult to overlook Donalds’ status as a staunch Trump ally. The home page of his campaign website noted several times that Donalds had Trump’s endorsement, showing a photo of the president and the congressman giving thumbs-up signs to the camera, according to an archived version of the site from earlier this month. The site’s “Topics” page was also headlined by a promise to “Enact Trump’s Agenda.” Images from Byron Donalds campaign website before and after the changes. Now, Donalds’ nod from the president still appears in a drop-down list of endorsements from conservative figures, and his role as a surrogate for Trump’s 2024 campaign is mentioned, but the president’s name doesn’t appear as extensively. The “Topics” page also does not name the president, but instead begins with the motto: “Responsible, Achievable, Affordable!” The changes, first reported by the Miami Herald on Tuesday, drew national attention and sparked speculation about whether Donalds is trying to keep the president at arm’s length. Donalds has been closely aligned with the president for years. Before the 2024 race, he endorsed Trump against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary. Trump endorsed Donalds last year, shortly before formally launching his campaign. “Byron Donalds would be a truly great and powerful governor for Florida, and if he decides to run, he will have my complete and total support,” Trump said. “RUN, BYRON, RUN!” More from CBS News Go deeper with The Free Press in:
