WASHINGTON — President Trump distanced himself Wednesday from under-fire Rep. Cory Mills following his main loss to former broadcast journalist Ryan Elijah.
Trump — who backed Mills (R-Fla.) in February and by no means rescinded the endorsement even because the Home Ethics Committee started wanting into allegations of home assault, stolen valor and monetary misconduct — claimed on Fact Social that “I advised Congressman Cory Mills of Florida, a pal of mine, to get out of the Race, however he wouldn’t pay attention. He thought he might win, so who can blame him?”
“We now have an important candidate, Ryan Elijah, working in his place! Ryan stands for EVERYTHING MAGA, and is revered by ALL,” Trump added. “He has my Full and Whole Endorsement!”
A spokesperson for Mills didn’t return a request for remark.
“It felt like a individuals’s victory to us due to all of the those that had backed us, and it was simply very rewarding,” Elijah advised The Submit Wednesday, noting that he bought a congratulatory textual content from Trump.
“I talked to numerous voters who simply felt that they weren’t being represented,” added the previous Fox Orlando host. “They needed one other alternative given the run of ethics violations we’ve seen on each side in Congress.
“And I believe the message that was despatched final evening is that the American persons are bored with it.”
Mills was considered one of three Trump-endorsed candidates to lose their primaries Tuesday, together with Catalina Lauf in Florida’s nineteenth Congressional District and Wyoming gubernatorial candidate Megan Degenfelder.
Regardless of these setbacks, the president nonetheless boasts a 96% success charge, with 313 of his 330 picks successful their main elections up to now this 12 months, in keeping with Ballotpedia.
Elijah was backed by Mills’ Home GOP colleagues Anna Paulina Luna and Mike Haridopolos, whereas in style outgoing Gov. Ron DeSantis made clear final week that “I’ve not endorsed Cory Mills and I don’t assist Cory Mills.”
“It was crucial for us to maintain the bulk, as we now have to win each seat potential, and it was very clear to me earlier this 12 months that Cory Mills wouldn’t win a basic election given his challenges,” stated Haridopolos, who personally recruit Elijah to run after Mills refused to resign.
“I believe one of the best ways to reform Congress is by deciding on higher members,” he added. “Our job in Congress is to signify our neighborhood, and in the event you get sidetracked with private points, it’s laborious to do the job.”
Mills, an Military veteran, has denied any wrongdoing.
In February 2025, the DC Metropolitan Police Division investigated accusations that he had assaulted a feminine Republican activist at his penthouse. Mills pressured that she later retracted features of her criticism.
Mills was not charged in that incident, however the ethics committee famous in Could that “a choice to not convey costs is just not a discovering of innocence or ‘no wrongdoing.’”
The lady, Sarah Raviani, allowed cops to hearken to a recorded telephone name through which Mills “instruct[ed] her to lie concerning the origin of her bruises,” in keeping with a duplicate of the police report reviewed by NBC Information, and the congressman “admitted [to officers] that the scenario escalated from verbal to bodily.”
The ethics committee can be investigating a court docket injunction issued in October 2025 limiting Mills’ social media utilization and make contact with pertaining to a lady — seemingly his ex-girlfriend, Lindsey Langston.
Langston, who was topped Miss United States in 2024, has claimed Mills tried to blackmail her with revenge porn.
The sweetness queen, who was in a relationship with Mills till February 2025, accused him of harassment by way of textual content, together with one Could 15, 2025, message through which he advised her, “Strap up cowboy” — which she interpreted as a warning that he would launch movies of the 2 “partaking in sexual acts,” in keeping with a report back to the Columbia (Fla.) County Sheriff’s Workplace on July 14, 2025.
