Oklahoma Gov. Stitt endorses Ron DeSantis for president

Republican Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 GOP presidential primary on Saturday, as DeSantis tries to overtake the front-running candidate, former President Donald Trump.

DeSantis, who officially launched his White House bid last month, made a campaign stop in Tulsa on Saturday where Stitt announced his support for his fellow Republican governor, according to local reports. 

Stitt backed Trump in the 2020 election and Trump had endorsed Stitt in both of his gubernatorial runs in 2018 and 2022.

“Governor DeSantis is a strong conservative and principled leader, and I am proud to endorse him for president,” Stitt told Fox News in a statement.

He praised DeSantis’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, saying that he “did not surrender states’ rights and individual liberties over to groupthink.”

“In this election cycle, Oklahomans will remember that DeSantis was one of the few who never backed down in the face of adversity, because DeSantis operated with dogged conviction and shared our values for a limited government and free country,” Stitt said.

Stitt’s endorsement comes a day after 20 Oklahoma state legislators endorsed DeSantis ahead of his Tulsa stop.

Stitt, a staunch conservative, was the first governor to ban abortions after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, according to Fox. 

DeSantis signed his own 6-week abortion ban in Florida in April.

The Oklahoma governor has also signed legislation barring males from participating in women’s sports and has banned all sex reassignment procedures for minors in the state. Florida passed a similar law.

“To deliver these same results all across America and unwind the disastrous liberal mandates of the Biden administration is going to demand a candidate who can win and keep winning as a two-term president. I am confident that leader is Ron DeSantis,” he said.