Enforcing lockdowns tanked Chronister's DEA nomination, Trump says
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President-elect Trump at a meeting with faith leaders on Oct. 23 in Zebulon, Ga. Photo: Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images
President-elect Trump says he pulled his nomination of Hillsborough Sheriff Chad Chronister to lead the Drug Enforcement Administration over the sheriff's lockdown enforcement record.
Why it matters: Chronister's short-lived nomination is another data point in the case for how outrage at pandemic constraints helped Trump win a second term.
Context: Republicans in Florida initially praised Chronister's nomination, but others weren't supportive. U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) said the sheriff should be "disqualified" because he enforced COVID lockdowns.
Driving the news: Chronister offered few specifics when he bowed out from consideration last week. The sheriff wrote on X that "the gravity of this very important responsibility" led him to reconsider.
- Trump disputed Chronister's statement on Truth Social.
- "He didn't pull out," Trump wrote. "I pulled him out, because I did not like what he said to my pastors and other supporters."
Zoom in: Trump's comment alluded to the 2020 arrest of megachurch pastor Rodney Howard-Browne, who bucked Hillsborough's stay-at-home orders and held two large in-person services.
- Howard-Browne had referred to those who were afraid of COVID as "pansies" and made clear that his church "will never close."
- Chronister slammed the pastor's "reckless disregard for human life" and noted that the megachurch had the equipment needed to hold services online.
- When Florida reopened, Chronister asked prosecutors to drop the misdemeanor charges against Howard-Browne.
The intrigue: Howard-Browne came out in support of Chronister two days before Trump yanked the sheriff's nomination.
- The two appeared in a video posted to X in which the pastor called Chronister a "friend," and said that he is "100% behind" him.
- "I'm a follow-the-law sheriff, and I was following the law back then," Chronister said in the video. "And lousy laws, good laws, you have to be the sheriff and do your job."
Reality check: Trump's own handling of the pandemic — in which he initially supported lockdowns — drew flak from conservatives.
- Gov. Ron DeSantis tried to leverage that attack to boost momentum for his failed presidential campaign. Last year, he said that the Trump administration needs "to own what they did."
What they're saying: "Sheriff Chronister stands behind his decision to withdraw from consideration," a spokesperson for his office told the Tampa Bay Times.
- "Right now, his priority, as it has been for the last seven years, remains the mission to protect and serve everyone in Hillsborough County."
The bottom line: Chronister's exit from the administration nominations means one fewer Floridian is joining Trump in Washington.