Ron DeSantis made Jay Collins look like a fool in front of his own supporters.
The Lieutenant Governor thought he had the Governor's backing for his political future.
But Ron DeSantis just humiliated Jay Collins with one calculated snub.
DeSantis pulls the ultimate no-show on his own Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins sent out voicemails to supporters Wednesday inviting them to a telephone town hall.
The recorded message promised something that should have been a slam dunk for Collins' struggling campaign.
"Hi, this is Florida Lieutenant Governor Jay Collins. I called to invite you to participate in a telephone town hall meeting with me and Gov. Ron DeSantis," the voicemail said.¹
Supporters dialed in expecting to hear from the man who appointed Collins to the second-highest office in Florida just months ago.
Instead, they got Collins praising DeSantis for 14 minutes while the Governor was nowhere to be found.
DeSantis' schedule showed exactly where his priorities were that evening.
He was busy interviewing with Fox News' Jesse Watters at 8:20 p.m., discussing Minnesota Governor Tim Walz and immigration from Somalia.²
The Governor's schedule was otherwise clear after a 10 a.m. press conference earlier in the day.
No official duties prevented DeSantis from showing up for the man he once called "the Chuck Norris of Florida Politics."
He just chose not to.
Collins stuck in political purgatory while Byron Donalds soars
This isn't the first time DeSantis has left Collins hanging.
Earlier this week, when asked point blank if he would get involved in the race to replace him, DeSantis gave a response that spoke volumes.
"We'll see," DeSantis said.³
That's it. That's all the support Collins gets from the man who elevated him to Lieutenant Governor.
Collins has been polling in single digits for months despite earned media appearances on pro-DeSantis outlets.
The Florida Fighter political committee has spent millions of dollars on ads featuring positive soundbites from DeSantis that imply the Governor supports Collins.
But none of it has moved the needle because DeSantis won't actually endorse him.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Representative Byron Donalds for Governor, and Donalds has raised more than $28 million.⁴
DeSantis won't back Donalds either, having criticized the Congressman for his positions on education and criminal justice reform.
DeSantis is playing a waiting game, and Collins is the one getting burned.
The Governor previously passed over Collins to replace Marco Rubio in the U.S. Senate, choosing Attorney General Ashley Moody instead.⁵
Now Collins sits in the Lieutenant Governor's mansion watching his gubernatorial dreams slip away while DeSantis refuses to pick a side.
DeSantis' silence sends the loudest message
Look, DeSantis knows exactly what he's doing by ghosting Collins' telephone town hall.
The Governor appointed Collins as Lieutenant Governor in August 2025, filling the vacancy left by Jeanette Nuñez.⁶
That appointment looked like a launching pad for Collins to run for Governor in 2026.
Collins served over two decades in the Army Special Forces as a Green Beret, earning the Purple Heart for combat service.⁷
He's been one of DeSantis' most loyal allies in the Florida Senate.
But loyalty apparently doesn't mean much when DeSantis is term-limited and looking to maintain influence over who succeeds him.
DeSantis indicated he won't endorse anyone before the Republican primary in August 2026.⁸
Even his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, who has been considering a gubernatorial run, hasn't received his public backing.
The Governor wants to keep his options open while Collins twists in the wind.
A recent poll showed that when Republican voters know Trump endorsed Donalds, he crushes potential opponents by massive margins.⁹
Collins gets just 2% support when included in a multi-candidate field.
In a head-to-head matchup where voters were told Donalds has Trump's endorsement and Collins has DeSantis' endorsement, Donalds leads 57% to 10%.¹⁰
That hypothetical endorsement from DeSantis doesn't even exist, and it still wouldn't be enough to save Collins.
DeSantis keeps saying Florida voters expect him to stand for what he's stood for.
What he's really standing for is keeping Collins on the hook while refusing to actually help him.
The telephone town hall debacle just made that painfully obvious to everyone watching.
¹ Florida Politics, "Bait-and-switch? Ron DeSantis skips Jay Collins' telephone town hall, raising more questions about lack of support," December 4, 2025.
² Ibid.
³ Ibid.
⁴ Orlando Sentinel, "Lt. Gov. Jay Collins poised to enter governor's race," September 23, 2025.
⁵ The Floridian, "Florida Senator Jay Collins Strongly Considering 2026 run for Governor," May 21, 2025.
⁶ CBS Miami, "Gov. DeSantis taps Tampa Sen. Jay Collins as new lieutenant governor," August 12, 2025.
⁷ FOX 13 Tampa Bay, "Governor DeSantis appoints Jay Collins as Florida's new lieutenant governor," August 12, 2025.
⁸ The Floridian, "DeSantis Hedges on Backing Collins, Accuses Donalds of Being Soft on Crime, Woke on Education," December 2, 2025.
⁹ Florida Phoenix, "Byron Donalds continues to lead all Florida Republicans in 2026 gubernatorial poll," July 14, 2025.
¹⁰ Ibid.
