Trump-backed candidate for Florida Governor accused of betrayal: “You sold me out and said I was a bad person”
Florida – U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds’ bid for Florida governor has drawn sharp reactions from within his own party. This week, the criticism became public after a fight with controversial influencer Andrew Tate.
President Donald Trump backed Donalds, a Republican from Florida, in the 2026 gubernatorial campaign. The battle will choose the next governor after Ron DeSantis, who is limited in how long he may serve. Trump’s support has benefited Donalds’ status with certain conservative voters, but it has also made people look more closely at his record and ideas, even other Republicans who might be thinking about running for governor.
One of them is Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who has asked Donalds about his immigration stance. This week, Donalds tweeted a video from Washington that brought up the subject again. In it, he said he agreed with Trump on immigration enforcement.
Donalds said that he supports mass deportations of undocumented immigrants, is against routes to citizenship and birthright citizenship, and wants to remove H-1B visas in favor of what he called a system based on assimilation, national interest, and American history. Collins has said that Donalds’ voting record doesn’t completely reflect the positions he has taken.
Andrew Tate’s straightforward response to Donalds on social media immediately gained attention outside of politics. Tate, a former professional kickboxer turned online personality, accused the congressman of hypocrisy and personal betrayal.
“When I landed in Florida you sold me out and said I was a bad person after begging me previously to advertise your campaign. You’re a sell out who does anything the media asks,” Tate wrote on X.
Tate’s comments were about things that happened earlier this year, when he and his brother Tristan Tate went to Florida after Romanian authorities eased restrictions that had kept them from leaving the country. The brothers are being investigated by authorities in Romania, the UK, and the US. This has kept them in the news throughout the world. They flew to Fort Lauderdale on a private plane after news that the Trump administration had told Romanian officials to ease the travel limits.
Florida officials acted quickly when the Tates got there. The governor of Florida announced in public that the brothers were “not welcome” in the state. Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier quickly started a criminal investigation into the Tates because the charges against them are extremely serious.
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At the time, Donalds publicly backed Uthmeier’s decision to start the investigation. He noted that the accusations against the Tates needed to be fully investigated and stressed that Florida does not put up with crimes involving human trafficking or violence against women. Donalds also said that he would support any legal action that the attorney general thought was required under state law.
That point of view seems to be the main focus of Tate’s attack at the moment. Tate’s response made it sound like he was still angry about what Donalds said and that the congressman’s actions were politically motivated. Donalds has not said anything in public about Tate’s accusation.
The conversation shows how complicated Donald’s race for governor is. He is trying to make himself look like a close supporter of Trump on important topics like immigration, but both his Republican Party opponents and people outside of it are looking at what he says and how he votes.
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As the contest for 2026 begins to take shape, this episode shows how past connections and public statements are likely to come back to haunt candidates, making an already crowded and fractious political landscape even more tense.
