The Rubio seat’s Senate primary is approaching as Trump’s inauguration approaches

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The governor said he didn’t name a replacement earlier because he didn’t want the person to be ‘a piñata where the media attacks them all the time and they can’t fight back.’

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says he’s waiting until the last minute to announce his replacing outgoing US Senator Marco Rubio because he doesn’t want the new person to be “a piñata” for the news media.

DeSantis spoke by phone with conservative radio host Erick Erickson on Wednesday. Rubio, who has been in office since 2011, was named by President-elect Donald Trump as the next US Secretary of State. He was questioned by US senators as part of the confirmation process earlier in the day and stayed largely well received.

“So I think Senator Rubio is likely to be confirmed and officially named on the afternoon of Jan. 20,” DeSantis said. “Obviously, President Trump takes office at noon on Jan. 20, so it will be before then. So I’d say stay tuned. … It’s going to be imminent. It’s not going to happen today, but it will happen very soon.”

The governor has scheduled a press conference in Orlando on Thursday morning at 10. It is not clear if it will be when he makes the announcement.

On Wednesday, DeSantis appeared in Winter Haven to outline his ideas for a special legislative session, scheduled to start Jan. 27, to tackle illegal immigration in the state. With him was, among others, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, who is considered one of the leading candidates to replace Rubio.

Rubio, DeSantis added, is “still a U.S. senator, and his resignation is not effective until he is actually confirmed and named secretary of state … But nevertheless, people were asking (who his replacement should be) two months ago.”

“… I can say, ‘this is the person’ … and then there’s two months where they’re just a piñata, where the media attacks them all the time and they can’t fight back. I don’t want to do it; I will wait until closer. So yes, you will hear some news relatively soon.

DeSantis has previously said he will not name a sitting member of Congress

The only other clue the governor has dropped recently has been that he won’t pick a sitting member of the U.S. House, pointing to the slim majority Republicans hold in the U.S. House.

“I’ve been honest with the congressmen … it’s a big concern of mine,” DeSantis said Monday. “You have to be part of the team and you have to help deliver” on Trump’s policies. It was at the press conference where he announced a special legislative session on immigration and other issues.

“But if you put someone there and it reduces the numbers in the House, it can make it harder for them to pass an agenda.” DeSantis, for example, has also said he wants to elect someone to carry out Trump’s tough immigration policies in the Senate.

This story contains previously published material. Jim Rosica is a member of the USA TODAY Network-Florida Capital Bureau. He can be found at [email protected]. Follow him on X: @JimRosicaFL.