Joy Reid spent years telling America that Florida was doomed.
Now a man who wants to be Florida's governor just sat across from her and nodded.
David Jolly told the world that on election night he wants to stand up and say – on behalf of Florida – "we apologize."
What Jolly Actually Said Out Loud
Jolly showed up on Reid's podcast and did not disappoint the opposition research team.
He smiled and nodded as Reid called Florida "mean" and attacked Governor DeSantis for keeping the cruise industry alive when unelected federal bureaucrats tried to shut it down during COVID.
DeSantis kept Florida open while blue-state governors were welding playgrounds shut.
Then he insulted his own party.
https://twitter.com/ByronWarRoom/status/2082850704889348167?s=20
Jolly insisted he doesn't "look like" the "parade leader of the progressive caucus" while telling the audience that "Republicans are saying, 'Jolly just makes business sense.'"
This is what desperation looks like.
A man trailing in every serious poll, going on a failed former cable host's podcast, claiming Republicans secretly love him – while publicly pledging to apologize to the world for a state that just saved its small businesses $2.7 billion by repealing the commercial rent tax.
What Florida Actually Built Under Republican Leadership
Here is what Jolly wants to apologize for.
Eight years of conservative governance that Governor DeSantis himself summarized in June: nearly $9.7 billion in tax relief for Florida families and businesses.
Florida ranked number one in the nation for economy among large states.
Number one in net in-migration – meaning people voted with their feet, and they voted for Florida.
Number one in new business formations, with 3.8 million new businesses created since 2019.
The rainy day fund tripled.
https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/2082859814854500493?s=20
State debt paid down nearly 50 percent.
Democrats haven't held the governor's mansion since 1994.
DeSantis won reelection by 19 points in 2022.
Trump won Florida by 13 points in 2024.
Cook Political Report rates the 2026 race as Solid Republican.
That is the record David Jolly wants to apologize for.
The Donalds Campaign Said What Needed to Be Said
Gates McGavick, communications director for Byron Donalds' campaign, did not mince words.
"The only thing Florida should be apologizing for is ever electing Far Left David Jolly to Congress. Electing Jolly again would erase years of conservative success, undo the progress we've made under Republican leadership, and make Floridians' lives harder."
And Joy Reid – a woman who watched her own network cancel her show – actually handed Jolly the bad news herself.
Reid told Jolly on the air that Byron Donalds "is likely to improve Republicans' score among African American voters because he will likely be facing David Jolly and Gwen Graham."
https://twitter.com/EricLDaugh/status/2082559221787451699?s=20
Emerson College polling shows Donalds leading the Republican primary with 46 percent support.
Donalds has the endorsement of President Trump, Senators Rick Scott and Ted Cruz, and 18 Florida House members.
He has outraised every Republican primary opponent by millions.
Jolly is polling at 21 percent in his own Democratic primary, with 53 percent of Democrats still undecided – meaning the base of his own party is not sold on him either.
Jolly Is Apologizing for a State That Millions of Americans Moved To on Purpose
This pattern is not new.
When Texas cut taxes and created jobs, the left called it mean.
When Georgia tightened elections and got the Atlanta Braves World Series a year later, they called it Jim Crow.
When Florida kept schools and cruise ships open during COVID while California and New York locked their citizens inside, they called it reckless.
https://twitter.com/FLVoiceNews/status/2082932997280444790?s=20
Then millions of Americans moved to Florida, Texas, and Georgia – and away from the states calling them names.
David Jolly's entire campaign strategy is to go on the podcast of a woman whose own network fired her, call Florida mean, and hope nobody notices that the state he wants to govern just posted eight straight years of record results under the exact leadership he's promising to undo.
Byron Donalds is going to win this race.
And nobody is going to apologize for that either.
Sources:
- Frank Kopylov, "Pretty far left David Jolly joins Joy Reid to trash Florida," Florida Voice News, July 30, 2026.
- Matt Vespa, "Trump-Deranged David Jolly Is Hoping to Say This on Election Night," Townhall, July 30, 2026.
- "Florida 2026 Poll: Donalds Leads GOP Primary for Governor," Emerson College Polling, April 2, 2026.
- "Governor Ron DeSantis Signs Florida Fiscal Year 2026-2027 Budget," Executive Office of the Governor, June 29, 2026.
- "POLL: Donalds all but clinches GOP nomination for Florida governor," Florida Voice News, July 13, 2026.
