Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi endorsed Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Monday, just 24 hours before the Sunshine State is set to hold its winner-take-all primary.
“We live in a changing world and we need leadership,” Bondi told hundreds of voters at a Trump rally in Tampa, Fla. “We need someone who is unafraid to lead and restore America to its greatness.”
Bondi, 50, was elected to her state cabinet post in 2011 “as an outsider” much like Trump, she claimed.
“I ran as an outsider here in Florida and I thought florida needed to be changed,” she said, adding, “And now our country and our world needs someone who’s going to protect us.”
Despite recently telling CNN, “I like the [individual] mandate,” Trump was still able to secure Bondi’s support. Bondi was the lead attorney in a 2015 lawsuit filed against the Obama administration that claimed the healthcare mandate was unconstitutional.
In addition to being joined by Bondi, Trump’s final campaign rally in Florida before voters cast their ballots included appearances from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Trump is slated to host another rally in Youngstown, Ohio, Monday evening at 6 p.m. ET. He currently leads state-level polls in Florida and is virtually tied with Ohio Gov. John Kasich in recent surveys of Ohio Republicans.
