Jenna Ellis, the former campaign lawyer for Donald Trump, has hit out at the MAGA backlash she has received after she endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president.
Ellis is a one-time ally of Trump who was indicted alongside the former president and 17 other people in the Georgia 2020 interference case before taking a plea deal. She has backed DeSantis in the 2024 White House race over her former boss. The Florida governor was once considered the main rival against Trump in the 2024 GOP presidential primary, but DeSantis’ campaign has continued to stall. He trails the former president in primary polls by great margins.
In a series of social-media posts, Ellis has lashed out at the attacks she has received from Trump supporters after she backed DeSantis. Newsweek has emailed Ellis and DeSantis’ office for comment on Saturday.
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“I see the MAGA leftists are out trolling my mentions and completely melting down because I endorsed Ron DeSantis,” Ellis posted on X, formerly Twitter, on November 24.
While sharing a screengrab of X’s trending topic column, which showed nearly 30,000 posts mentioning the name Jenna, Ellis wrote: “The absolute meltdown over my support of Ron DeSantis… politics really should not be this personal and contentious.
“I support the best conservative candidate. That’s it. Everyone who cares about America always should,” Ellis added.
Ellis pleaded guilty in late October to one felony count of aiding and abetting false statements and writings and agreeing to testify against the other defendants charged under Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ expansive RICO probe, including former President Trump. He has denied any wrongdoing. Ellis endorsed Trump’s Republican political rival in the White House race weeks later.
“It is time to stand with the most conservative candidate in this primary. On the issues that matter to values voters most, there is no one better than Ron DeSantis,” Ellis posted on X on November 22.
The endorsement was somewhat expected following a sustained period of Ellis criticizing the MAGA movement. It followed reports that Trump had refused to pay Ellis’ legal fees in the Georgia case because of her vocal support for DeSantis.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer was one of those to attack Ellis for her backing of DeSantis in the 2024 race.
“Ron DeSantis has just been endorsed by Jenna Ellis, the traitorous, opportunistic grifter who made a deal with Fani Willis to turn on Trump in Fulton, County Georgia,” Loomer posted on X. “Truly the kiss of death for his already failed campaign. DeSantis is now endorsed by people working to jail Trump and his supporters.”
In mid-November, Ellis’ testimony to Fulton County prosecutors was leaked, and it revealed her detailing a conversation with former senior White House official Dan Scavino around December 19, 2020. Scavino allegedly said that Trump would not leave office “under any circumstances” and was going to “stay in power.”
Ellis was previously criticized following her guilty plea for not returning the more than $217,000 in online donations she raised to cover the legal fees Trump refused to pay.
Offering a defense, Ellis’ lawyer Michael Melito said that the costs of her legal fees accumulated after she was indicted “significantly exceeded the amount raised by the fund.”
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.