DeSantis Gained Trump's Endorsement And Became Governor Thanks To Cannabis, Says Ex-GOP Fundraiser

Ron DeSantis (R) criticized  Donald Trump for failing to “drain the swamp” several times over the last couple of months, a pledge the Florida Governor also made during his presidential campaign. 

In a New Hampshire speech in June, DeSantis pledged to “break the swamp,” in Washington DC, if elected president.

A recent investigation by CNN's Randi Kaye examined the very first bill DeSantis signed into law that legalized smokable medical marijuana in Florida and raised questions about his campaign donors.

Cannabis Helped Him Become Governor

According to the report, Lev Parnas, a Republican fundraiser said 

DeSantis supported the expansion of the medical marijuana program because he was looking to gain Trump's support for his gubernatorial race.

Parnas, sentenced in 2022 to 20 months in federal prison for unrelated campaign finance violations and scamming investors, met with DeSantis in 2018 and was reluctant to help him obtain Trump’s support because DeSantis was not supporting his business plans. At the time, Parnas was planning to invest in the medical marijuana industry in Florida.

“I told him, ‘You’re on the other side of the fence on that, and you are against everything I believe and am trying to establish,’” Parnas told CNN’s Kaye, recalling his first meeting with DeSantis at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. He added that DeSantis was open to backing more liberal marijuana laws if Parnas could arrange Trump’s endorsement. 

In June 2018, DeSantis publicly supported the legalization of medical marijuana. 

The day after Parnas donated $50,000 to DeSantis’ political committee via Global Energy Partners, Trump endorsed him in a Tweet. 

“The reason why Ron DeSantis became governor of Florida is because of a little plant called cannabis,” Parnas concluded. 

The Case Of Trulieve 

CNN also reported that DeSantis had close ties with one of the largest medical marijuana companies in the U.S. and Florida, Trulieve, which allegedly donated $50,000 to the Florida GOP, playing a key role in electing DeSantis and covering his campaign expenses. 

Upon legalizing smokable medical marijuana, Trulieve posted record revenue of $70.7 million for the third quarter ended Sep. 30, 2019, an increase of 22% on a sequential quarter-to-quarter basis. ”Increase of 19% in Florida patient growth in the third quarter, driven primarily by the introduction of smokable flower, increasing patient count to 214,827 at September 30, 2019,” the company stated.

The same year, Florida's Department of Health reached a settlement with Trulieve in a legal dispute, allowing it to nearly double the number of its cannabis dispensaries. “Trulieve's 14 dispensaries that were established before the statewide cap was enacted are now excluded from the statutory cap,” stated the company in a press release. Trulieve was the only company that challenged the statutory cap on dispensaries as unconstitutional.

Benzinga reached out to Trulieve for comments, but the company did not respond at the time of publishing. 

DeSantis’ Spokesman: ‘Donors Have No Influence On Policy Decisions’ 

CNN reported that “DeSantis declined to answer detailed questions about his interactions with Parnas from this time period. The Trump campaign and a spokesman for [Rudy] Giuliani did not respond to requests for comment.”

DeSantis’ spokesman Bryan Griffin accused CNN of reporting “opposition narratives from the Trump campaign and their allies to smear Ron DeSantis.”

“As he’s always said and repeatedly shown, donors have no influence on policy decisions,” Griffin said. “No one has done more to deliver on his promises for the conservative movement than Ron DeSantis and that is why he is the hands-down best choice to lead the Republican Party in 2024 and America as our next President.”

Continue reading on CNN.

Related Links:

Trump Spokesperson Suggests Ron DeSantis Buy Some Cannabis Edibles To Ease The Stress

Ron DeSantis Used To Be 'Coolest Republican When It Came To Weed' Says Prominent Advocate In Marijuana Moment Op-Ed

Ron DeSantis Reaffirms Opposition To Pot Legalization, Gets Booed At Prayer Vigil After Florida Shooting

Photo: Benzinga edit with images by Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America - Ron DeSantis via Wikimedia Commons and Jose Luis Sanchez Pereyra via Unsplash