Ron DeSantis nearly lost the Florida governorship before he ever set foot on a debate stage.
He almost lost it to Donald Trump.
But DeSantis just revealed the full story – and the man who kept everything together was Sean Hannity.
The Puerto Rico Problem That Almost Cost Florida
In September 2018 – six weeks before election day – Trump fired off a series of tweets insisting that nearly 3,000 people did not die in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
He blamed Democrats for inflating the number to make him look bad.
The problem? Puerto Rico's own governor had officially accepted the 2,975 death toll, established by an independent George Washington University study commissioned by the island's government.
DeSantis and Rick Scott, both in tight races, were suddenly standing on a political landmine.
DeSantis explained the stakes plainly during a recent appearance on Hannity's show.
Central Florida had seen a massive influx of Puerto Rican residents after Hurricane Maria devastated the island in 2017.
"Our state at the time was a 1-point state," DeSantis said.
That community was watching every word from Washington – and Trump had just handed Democrats a weapon.
Scott publicly broke with Trump, tweeting that he disagreed with the president on the death toll and had personally witnessed the devastation in Puerto Rico seven times.
DeSantis' camp was more careful, releasing a statement that the candidate "doesn't believe any loss of life has been inflated."
Both candidates were trying to survive a moment that could flip Central Florida – and with it, the entire state.
How Hannity Saved the Ticket
Trump noticed the distancing.
And he was not happy about it.
DeSantis said he and Scott were trying to "put a little sugar on that" to blunt the controversy in Central Florida.
Trump saw it as disloyalty.
This is where Hannity stepped in.
Hannity got into a "big knockdown, drag-out fight" with Trump over it.
His message was direct: support the candidates before it was too late.
Trump relented and came to Florida for rallies in the final stretch.
DeSantis won by about 32,000 votes – barely four-tenths of a percentage point out of more than eight million cast.
Rick Scott beat incumbent Bill Nelson for the U.S. Senate seat by an even thinner margin.
Neither race was survivable without Trump's late push.
What This Tells You About Real Power in Washington
Trump has long taken credit for DeSantis' 2018 victory, and that credit is largely deserved.
But this story adds a layer most people didn't know.
The president had to be talked back onto the field.
Hannity wasn't just a cheerleader during Trump's first term.
Multiple former White House officials confirmed he was among the most influential voices in the building – someone Trump consulted on strategy and whose advice could shift the president's position overnight.
Former White House communications director Alyssa Farah named Hannity the most influential Fox host in the final year of the first term.
Trump sometimes dialed Hannity directly into Oval Office staff meetings.
The Puerto Rico episode is the most concrete example yet of Hannity using that access for something that actually mattered.
Not TV strategy. Not messaging tweaks. A direct intervention to keep the president from walking away from two winnable races out of pride.
DeSantis is governor of Florida today because of it.
Scott is a U.S. senator because of it.
The 2018 Florida results held the line in a wave election year that flipped the House.
What happens to Republican Senate math in 2019 and 2020 if Scott loses that race?
What happens to Florida's 2020 presidential result without DeSantis building a record as governor?
Hannity fought Trump and won – and the downstream effects are still running.
Sources:
- A.G. Gancarski, "Ron DeSantis says Sean Hannity helped mend 2018 tiff between Donald Trump, top Florida Republicans over Hurricane Maria," Florida Politics, March 24, 2026.
- Ballotpedia, "Florida gubernatorial and lieutenant gubernatorial election, 2018," Ballotpedia.org.
- Amy Sherman, "DeSantis Narrowly Defeats Gillum To Become Florida's Next Governor," WUSF, November 7, 2018.
- Staff, "Trump's claims in helping DeSantis's 2018 win raises political figures' eyebrows," WUFT, November 16, 2022.
- Staff, "Text messages reveal the influence of Fox News hosts on Trump's White House," The Philadelphia Inquirer, January 10, 2022.
