Florida lawmaker mocked for plan to name Florida highway after Trump

A previous effort to rename the highway after Mr Trump failed

If you want proof that Democrats and Republicans are living in separate worlds, look no further than Florida.

Ahead of a 2022 congressional run, state representative Anthony Sabatini has introduced legislation to rename a major highway after noted Florida resident Donald Trump, “one of America’s greatest Presidents”.

“Today I filed the Bill to name Florida’s longest road – US Highway 27 – the ‘President Donald J. Trump Highway,’ to honor one of America’s greatest Presidents,” Mr Sabatini, who has branded himself “Florida’s most pro-Trump state legislator”, said on Twitter on Monday.

He called on members of the public to sign a petition and offer their emails, conveniently located on his campaign website. The site reads, “The Establishment is trying to DESTROY President Donald Trump’s legacy. I refuse to let that happen. I am officially refiling my bill to rename Highway 27 the President Donald J. Trump Highway!”

Critics on Twitter were quick to mock the effort, the legislator’s second attempt to rename the highway after Mr Trump.

“Wow, someone’s found a way to reduce traffic congestion,” author Emily Willingham wrote on Twitter.

“Well, if anyone deserves to have Florida’s urethra named after them…” artist Charles Evans added, along with a map of the 481-mile interstate highway.

In January, two weeks after Trump supporters attacked the US Capitol in an attempt to overturn the 2020 election results, Mr Sabatini introduced a proposal to rename the highway after Mr Trump.

“It’s one of the most historic highways and one of the longest highways which goes through pretty much the whole state,” he told The Orlando Sentinel at the time. “I just think it’s a pretty good choice.”

The Florida Republican is one of the most conservative members of the state’s already conservative legislature, and he announced his run for US Congress in March, criticising how he said the “spineless and corrupt Republican establishment turned its back on President Trump and refuses to fight for our America first agenda. And it’s time we fight back.”

The legislator has previously grabbed headlines for battling on social media, trying to overturn local mask mandates, and tweeting a picture of an AR-15 rifle during last summer’s George Floyd protests that many interpreted as a threat.

Mr Trump and his children have relocated to Florida following the election, and the state voted to send him back to the White House in 2020 by a comfortable margin, but Mr Sabatini has called for a “forensic audit” of election results in five counties where Mr Trump lost.

"I like the election result in Florida. Donald Trump won,” he told WESH. “It was great. That’s not what this is about. This is about giving a sense of transparency to voters who don’t understand what is going on behind the scenes with these supervisors of elections.”