California Republicans invite Ron DeSantis to speak — one day after inviting Donald Trump

Florida governor and 2024 presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis will deliver a keynote address at the California Republican Party Convention this fall.

The California GOP announced the speaking engagement Wednesday, a day after it said that former President Donald Trump will also deliver a keynote.

Party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson said in a statement that she looks forward to welcoming the Florida governor to the Golden State, where he can discuss “his plans to take his Florida success all the way to the White House.”

“As Californians struggle under the weight of Democrats’ failed one-party rule, Gov. DeSantis has shown how a state can thrive under responsible, commonsense, conservative leadership,” Patterson said.

According to the schedule, Trump will speak during the convention luncheon on Friday, Sept. 29. DeSantis will address the convention dinner that evening.

The convention runs from Sept. 29 to Oct. 1.

California Republicans on Wednesday morning stayed largely quiet on the subject of the Trump’s convention appearance, which was announced Tuesday shortly before news that the former president had been indicted for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election. It is Trump’s third criminal indictment.

The party’s decision to invite DeSantis once more brings the Florida governor into the California spotlight.

In June, he attended a fundraising breakfast in Sacramento and visited the hometown of his political nemesis, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, calling attention to San Francisco’s struggles. Also that month, he arranged for two separate flights of Latin American migrants to Sacramento. In March, he decried the “woke mind virus” during a speech at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley.