Trump’s Florida campaign attack misstates Jolly’s positions on sport and borders

Donald Trump has renewed his support for Republican Byron Donalds in Florida’s governor race, using a 30 October Truth Social post to attack his Democratic opponent, David Jolly. The post contradicts Jolly’s stated position on women’s sport and leaves out his support for border security.

Trump said Jolly wanted “massive Tax Increases, Open Borders, Men playing in Women’s Sports” and “Transgender Mutilization of your Children”. He urged voters to back Donalds, a US congressman, in the 3 November election to replace term-limited Governor Ron DeSantis. Trump’s support is not new: the Associated Press reported that he had endorsed Donalds when the congressman entered the race in February 2025.

In a September campaign video, Jolly said he did not want what he called “biological men in competitive women’s sports” and did not intend to change the existing state law. He distinguished that from mixed neighbourhood youth leagues, where he said parents should be able to decide.

On immigration, Jolly’s campaign says he supports border security and federal enforcement, as well as a path to legal status and work for undocumented immigrants. He opposes state laws that involve local police in deportation enforcement.

In 2025, WUSF reported that Jolly did not consider crossing the border without legal status a crime for people seeking asylum or economic opportunity. He said the US should have “wide gates” for those who wanted to contribute to its economy. That is a more welcoming approach to immigration, but it is not a call to remove border controls.

Jolly has discussed possible new taxes. In an interview on The Ryan Gorman Show on 15 October, he floated a $250 or $500 tax on property transactions as one way to help finance a state catastrophe insurance fund. He also mentioned using existing tourist-tax revenue and revenue from insurers’ profits. He says the fund could reduce insurance costs.

He estimated that the fund would need to exceed $32 billion over time and suggested much of an existing $12 billion fund could potentially be transferred. Jolly also backs a property-tax exemption for first-time buyers, while opposing a broader proposed exemption because, he says, it lacks replacement revenue. The fund’s final financing and the burden on taxpayers remain unsettled; Trump’s post gives no calculation for his “massive” description.

On healthcare, Jolly says the government should stay out of families’ medical decisions. That general position does not specify which transition-related treatments he would permit for minors, while Trump did not name a procedure in his post.

In August, PolitiFact reported that an advert from a political action committee supporting Donalds had used an edited clip to claim Jolly backed gender-changing surgery for children. In the fuller interview, Jolly was recounting another family’s account of care and did not mention surgery. His campaign did not respond to PolitiFact’s question about whether his position included surgery for under-18s.