One of Anthony Sabatini’s “Best Friends” No Longer Supports Him

I have tried to stay away from politics as much as I can these days, but considering my past support and close friendship with State Representative Anthony Sabatini, who is now running for Florida’s 7 th Congressional District, I felt I had a personal respo nsibility to weigh in. Many people who know me might still think I’m supporting Anthony. Others might believe he and I maintain a friendship. We do not and have not since about last October – and if it’s not obvious just yet, I am no longer supporting hi m. I pulled my support last October after finally reaching a tipping point of stuff I could not responsibly support any longer.

For context: Anthony and I have had many mutual friends over the years. Because of his role as a public official and my someti mes - public role as a commentator – including in my weekly contributions to the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100 Voices page – Anthony and I both knew of each other. The first time I remember meeting him, was in the first week of March 2020, at an event that the organization I used to work for, National Review Institute, held in Tallahassee. Anthony made it clear to me that day that he knew who I was and was a fan of my writings in the Orlando Sentinel.

He also told me he was a big fan of William F. B uckley, Jr., the founder of National Review , going so far as telling me had watched “hundreds” of episodes of Buckley’s famous show, Firing Line .

Naturally, Anthony and I hit it off immediately. From the start of the pandemic, he and I were also in sync on the disastrous economic consequences our nation would face if our government forced lockdowns on the economy. Later, we also were both united in our opposition to mask mandates and other ludicrous reactions to COVID19. I suppose you can say we both have a libertarian streak – let people decide for themselves how to keep themselves healthy. Over the course of the year 2020, we became very close friends – strangely enough, many of us anti - lockdown people tended to hang out more with other anti - lockdown p eople. I made a lot of new friends in 2020, despite others who kept their social distance. In October 2020, Anthony invited me to a private dinner at a prominent steakhouse in Orlando, to celebrate his birthday. There were about 10 of us around the table: Anthony, his wife, his brother, his parents, a few of his college buddies, a former state representative, and me. During dinner he introduced me to everyone by saying “Francisco is one of my best friends.” To be honest, this felt a little awkward. Some of the people around the table were also some of his best friends.

I have lots of friends and while I acknowledge our close friendship, I really didn’t consider him one of my “best friends.” Reflecting on this statement today, I’m just not sure how many tr ue friends Anthony actually has. And here’s why I think that is: he’s kind of a character, a blowhard, pompous, a showboat, and a liar. All these characteristics reveal themselves over time.

As a friend and as a conservative, I was attracted to supporting Anthony for being so outspoken, including against the Tallahassee establishment. As recently as the summer of 2021, I even wrote a published article about how the Speaker of the House, Chris Sprowls, treated Anthony inappropriately. Instead of working with him, I believe Speaker Sprowls “created” Anthony – forcing him into a corner, one he would never come out of.

Later, I would learn from close friends in and around Tallahassee, that was in fact not the case. I was told that once Anthony started becoming more “popular” among many Florida conservatives, leadership went to Anthony and asked him what he wanted. He told them he would not work with them. This puzzled me until I figured it out: Anthony no longer cared about making a difference for his constituents in Tallahassee. He cared, instead, about increasing his name recognition around Florida and the country as th e guy who worked against the establishment. This was the path to getting into Congress. He would position himself as someone who introduces very right - wing bills and fights against the establishment. One conservative state representative (who I knew long before she was in public office) told me this past February that she told Anthony she could no longer co - sponsor bills with him.

Why? Anything Anthony puts his name on dies in Tallahassee. People are just so sick and tired of him they no longer will help him advance any legislation. Meanwhile, the Florida legislature continues to put forth great legislation anyway – these are the bills that end up being signed by Governor Ron DeSantis, who is largely (and rightly) getting the credit for them on both a stat ewide and national stage. Anthony always tries to take credit, but he is of little to no part of them. Those on social media or in other parts of the country don’t know the difference – and he knows that. But what can be seen clearly (if you’re looking) i s the fact that Anthony barely shows up for his job in Tallahassee. There are only 60 days a year that the Florida legislature is in session.

Yet, Anthony misses so much of those 60 days that there has been a Twitter account created called “Where is Sabatini?” During the days he misses, the Twitter account posts pictures of his empty seat. So, if he’s not in Tallahassee, where the people of his district elected him to go and represent them, where is Anthony Sabatini? He’s usually pal - ing around with detestable people like Matt Gaetz and showing up to fundraisers with conspiracy theorists lik e Marjorie Taylor Greene. When Anthony first filed to run for Congress in 2020, he filed in a very safe Republican district that has been represented by Congressman Daniel Webster, who is respected by almost everyone in Florida politics. He has been in va rious roles for many decades, including once being Speaker of the Florida House. Anthony told me he was only filing in that seat because the new maps had not been created yet. Florida was expecting to pick up at least one (if not two) new Congressional di stricts. So, he just needed somewhere to file. He told me he would be doing this a week before he did.

I asked him: “Have you told Dan Webster your plan?” He said he would be calling Webster before he filed. The next week, Anthony made his public announc ement to run for Congress. As a friend and supporter, I immediately posted my support on my Facebook page. I had several friends question this because they said Dan Webster has one of the most conservative voting records in Congress. Why would Anthony prim ary him? I told them Anthony would ultimately not be running against Webster.

Then I read Dan Webster’s statement to the press. He was furious. I called Anthony and asked him: “Did you ever call Dan Webster to tell him why you were filing to run in his seat?” He told me he had. I said, “man, I’m reading his statement to the press and it doesn’t look like he knew.” That’s when Anthony told me “He probably forgot. He’s a senile old bastard.” At the time, I had no reason to believe Anthony would lie to me about this. However, now I know he likely did – which is weird. He considered me one of his closest, trusted advisors. I was one of the few people that even knew he would be filing to run for Congress. Advance forward a bit... I spent most of 2021 liv ing and working from Guatemala.

I visited the U.S. a few times during the course of the year, including in the summer of 2021. I would always invite Anthony to meet up with me and other friends in Orlando, several of whom are business people who are very conservative. At that point, each of us had already made donations to Anthony’s campaign for Congress. At one of these gatherings, one of those friends was there before Anthony arrived. When I told him Anthony was coming to join us, he told me: “Francisco, it’s getting very hard to defend some of what Anthony is saying, especially his tweets. He really needs to dial it down.” I laughed because I had already been trying to tell Anthony this on many occasions but he was not listening to me. I asked my friend , who is a couple decades older than me and a very prominent businessman in Orlando: “Would you mind telling this to Anthony when he gets here?” He said he would be happy to. And he did.

And Anthony listened, but disagreed. He told my friend that today in politics you have to go as hardcore to the right (or left) as possible. It’s all about getting attention, getting donors, and getting turnout. And more importantly, this was how he intended to get the attention, and ultimately the endorsement, of Donald Tr ump. That’s when we tried to tell Anthony: you already have the Trump base. They love you. You don’t need to keep going hard and over the top. You have them. What you need to do is tone it down a little bit so other Republicans will also support you – or at least not oppose you. This is not a compromise in principles.

We know Anthony is going to vote for the right things. What we were advising him is to change his tone. I actually think Anthony is a pretty intelligent guy. But the type of language he use s in public, including on social media, is often reprehensible. And, the way he talks to and about people – publicly – is disgusting. I have had many disagreements with many Republicans. I might even call them a RINO on occasion.

But Anthony has taken rhet oric to another level. He has called other legislators, like Representative Thad Altman a “cuck.” (You c an look up the definition, but it’s as bad as it sounds). Altman is a gentile senior statesman. To refer to him this way, especially publicly, is just out of line. I was tolerating Anthony for too long – and mostly because I viewed him first as a friend. And secondly, I was abroad and not really paying attention as closely as I should have. Later in the summer, Anthony called me and asked me if I could help him secure the endorsement of a very popular, social media savvy, young Congressman, who I was friends with. I really am not in this endorsement business, but I did drop a line to that Con gressman and his team, reminding them I had introduced them to Anthony not once, but on three occasions between 2020 and 2021. I told them Anthony was now running for Congress and was sure to be a strong ally of the Congressman should he be elected. I sugg ested they might meet with him and consider him for one of their endorsements.

I even had a call with one of the members of that team. They eventually had Anthony meet with that Congressman, and sure enough, weeks later, that Congressman publicly endorsed Anthony. I was a bit surprised they did this so soon, including before the district he was running in was even set. I texted Anthony that day: “Congrats on the endorsement.” He replied back: “Thanks bro! That was all YOU.” Then, a week later, another fr iend called me. He told me that Anthony was now working with a very shady person in local Central Florida politics: Randy Ross. I don’t know Randy Ross, but I know he has a bad reputation (including a criminal record) and there was no need for Anthony to h ave this guy in his circle. I called him from Guatemala to give him my opinion.

He told me he was not working with Randy Ross. He said Ross was simply getting the word out about an upcoming fundraiser and that you can’t control who supports you. I accepted that answer. But it was another lie. A few days later, Anthony appeared on a radio program in Central Florida where Ross was the co - host. I couldn’t believe it. Today, Ross is officially a paid member of Anthony’s campaign. A week after I called him abo ut Ross, Anthony announced he would be hosting a rally with Representative Matt Gaetz. Earlier in the year, Gaetz had endorsed Anthony’s campaign. I advised Anthony at that time not to do anything further with Gaetz.

After all, Gaetz was close friends with Joel Greenberg, who is facing over 30 charges from the FBI including fraud, paying for sex, and possibly even paying for sex with a minor. Gaetz was accused of some of that, including having sex with a minor (who was paid) and traveling with that person a cross state lines. I don’t know what is true and isn’t true, but today Joel Greenberg is in the Orange County jail, under federal charges and is awaiting sentencing . Greenberg was very involved in politics and there was no one he was closer to than Matt Gaetz. Being associated with Matt Gaetz has no upside and, as Anthony’s friend, I had advised him to “keep your distance” from Matt Gaetz. After introducing Anthony to so many friends who had become financial supporters and helping him secure an endorseme nt from a popular America First Congressman, Anthony was now doing the one thing I asked him not to do. I was not happy. Again, I placed a call to him from Guatemala and gave him my advice on how this upcoming rally with Gaetz was not a good idea.

I told him: I know this is already scheduled for later this week, but I also know how many events in politics are canceled. I believed the right thing to do would be to cancel this event. After all, no other people in politics were doing anything with Matt Gaetz (other than Marjorie Taylor Greene, and that speaks for itself). DeSantis and Trump were keeping their distance from Gaetz. Fox News and Newsmax were no longer having him on. There is no upside to this. Anthony disagreed. I told him this was his campaig n, but if he went forward with this rally with Matt Gaetz, I would no longer be able to support him. Anthony went forward with it, and I kept my word. At first, I had no plans to publicize this. I told him: you and I can still be friends, but politically, you have lost me. He accepted that. At the time, I actually found some level of respect in this. Then the rally happened and Matt Gaetz made a major fumble.

He was telling a story of how Congresswoman Lauren Boebert tried to bring her handgun into the U.S . Capitol with her and was constantly denied. She couldn’t get through the metal detectors. Gaetz said “Is it Tannerite or C4 we want to put in those metal detectors when we blow them up?” Excuse me? Gaetz said this right in front of Anthony, who clapped and laughed at the comment, as it seems others in the crowd did too (in the video, you can’t see too much of the crowd, but you can clearly hear some of them cheering on the comment). I watched a replay of the video and could not believe what I was seein g and hearing. A sitting Congressman, Matt Gaetz, just publicly said that he wanted to blow up the metal detectors at the U.S. Capitol with explosives.

This, less than 9 months after the Left was continuing to blame Trump and nearly all Republicans about the Capitol riots on January 6. This wasn’t just an immoral statement; it was also politically stupid. I have known Matt Gaetz over a decade, interacting with him when I lived in Tallahassee and worked for The James Madison Institute. I always viewed him a s a smart, bulldog of a conservative. I always liked him, until I started finding out about some of his personal escapades and dubious associations, such as with Joel Greenberg. Still, I really don’t think that Matt Gaetz woke up that day thinking the word s “Tannerite” and “c4” were going to come out of his mouth. Clearly, this was a mistake.

Would he ignore it or apologize for it? There are typically no apologies these days in winger politics. So, he did the opposite. The next day, Gaetz tweeted out: “If you can’t fantasize about blowing up useless metal detectors with @LaurenBoebert at a Florida Halloween political rally for @AnthonySabatini, when can you?” Matt, the answer is clearly: NEVER. I sent Anthony a text that day and told him I couldn’t believe Gaetz joked about placing explosives at metal detectors at the U.S. Capitol. He never responded. In fact, he retweeted Matt Gaetz. A few days later, I texted him: “I’m highly disappointed you have not condemned Matt Gaetz’s remarks,” adding that “you serve our country in many ways including in the military and that’s to be commended but you also swore an oath to our Constitution, not to Matt Gaetz or even Donald Trump.” A month later, Matt Gaetz brought Anthony to Mar - a - Lago to meet former President Donald Trump. Anthony posted about it on his social media feed. That was in November 2021.

To date, Trump has not endorsed Anthony. Ant hony Sabatini sold out his country to remain buddies with Matt Gaetz, as a possible lifeline to Trump. If he had a soul, he sold it out already – and he’s not even in Washington yet. I told Anthony last October: “As much as I like where you stand on most policy issues and I hope those can be advanced, the #1 thing I look for is integrity and you’re no longer looking good in that category. And this means the RINOs will advance further because many of them at least LOOK like they have integrity even if they are squishes.”

I also told him: you have told me on numerous occasions, including in front of other people, that I am one of your best friends. You have also informed me every time one of my friends (who I introduced you to) gave you a donation. There a re now upwards of $15,000 - $25,000 of money raised by you from my influential friends. (Of note: I never asked any of my friends to donate to Anthony, but they knew I was supporting him, and they've generally liked him in their interactions with him, whil e also being around me.) I also told Anthony: In addition, I helped you secure an endorsement from a very popular America First Congressman. I now regret all of that.

 haven’t asked you for a single thing. I just asked you – for your own benefit – to sta y away from Matt Gaetz. In addition, I have now caught you in many lies to me, someone who you say is one of your “best friends.” If you are lying to me now, and you are not taking what I think is very common sense advice, then when will you ever listen to me once you are part of the Swamp? You are exactly the kind of person who should never be in any kind of position of power. I pray for our nation if people like you advance into higher office.

I am a person of faith who believes in redemption and forgiveness and do sincerely hope and pray Anthony changes his ways, for his own benefit. But I’ve also witnessed what the lust for power will do to a person. They will abandon their country. They will abandon their friends. I don’t have a horse in the race for Florida’s 7 th Congressional district, but as someone who was very close friends with Anthony Sabatini, I advise strongly against any vote in his favor