Florida GOP Chairman Evan Power fires back at calls to resign over Laura Loomer appearance

Editor’s note: Power announced Tuesday evening that he can no longer go on Loomer’s show because of RNC commitments.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Republican Party of Florida Chairman Evan Power rebuked backlash over his previously scheduled appearance on former President Donald Trump-supporting commentator Laura Loomer’s show on Tuesday.

Loomer, who is based in Florida, invited Power to discuss the party’s upcoming move to endorse Trump in the 2024 election.

Power faced calls to resign over accepting the appearance, and prominent online DeSantis supporter Robert J. Salvador called for a “boycott” of the party.

“It’s a little comical,” Power said of the calls to resign, speaking to Florida’s Voice. “We are the party that is against cancel culture. If spreading the ways Florida is leading the way in the fight for our country is wrong, what are we even doing here.”

“It’s matter of record that Laura and I have tangled on twitter extensively,” he said. “I feel it’s my job as chairman to fight head on to show all sides of the party what we are doing here in Florida to win.”

Salvador called on Republicans to donate directly to candidates, rather than the party, over Power’s appearance.

“Not a cent If you’re in Florida tell your friends that @EvanPower likes to hang w/ people who call the First Lady’s cancer fake,” he said. “We gave Evan a chance. This was his decision.”

On the social media platform X, where Loomer has a large presence of just over 800,000 followers, critics lashed out at Power over Loomer’s persistent targeting of Gov. Ron DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis throughout the GOP primary.

The comment critics like Salvador are referring to came from Loomer in 2023, where she said Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis had “claim[ed] she had cancer,” and Loomer explaining she has “never seen the medical records.”

“They want to use her as a campaign surrogate and cancer as a way to appeal to voters,” she said at the time, when DeSantis was kicking his 2024 campaign into high gear.

“Personally, I think Jill’s [Casey’s] health has been over exaggerated in a desperate effort to get votes for DeSantis,” she said. “They even used it in a 2022 campaign commercial which is very tacky.”

The first lady became cancer free in 2022, and has been promoting cancer treatment and diagnostic awareness for years.

DeSantis political team press secretary Bryan Griffin concurred with the criticism of Power, that he should not partake on Loomer’s show given her combativeness with DeSantis and his wife, Casey.

Salvador argued that with the “DeSantis people” watching Power’s and the party’s actions, the question of whether supporters of the governor should back the party or individual candidates has been answered.

“I refuse to let echo chambers define the good work we are doing at the [party],” Power continued in his rebuke. “I’ll tell anyone that we have a plan to deliver Florida up and down the ticket.”