Allen West, the former South Florida congressman who was beloved and hated for his verbal grenades, is being talked about as a possible 2020 candidate for Congress.
If he makes a political comeback, it wouldn’t be in his former South Florida home. It would be in Texas, where he moved in 2014, two years after Florida voters rejected him.
West, a former Army lieutenant colonel, burst on the political scene and rode the tea party wave to victory in 2010, defeating Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Klein in a Broward-Palm Beach county district.
He quickly became known more for his incendiary rhetoric than legislating. Hoping to win re-election in 2012, West moved to a district in northern Palm Beach, Martin and St. Lucie counties he thought would be more friendly, but he lost.
When he moved, he promised in a farewell message posted on his website that his followers should “rest assured, I will continue to make my voice heard.” He has remained outspoken.
— He was just elected to a second three-year term as a member of the national board of directors of the National Rifle Association. “I will tirelessly defend our Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms,” West wrote in a social media post Wednesday, adding “molon labe!” and a picture of him holding a weapon. The term is ancient Greek, meaning come and take them.
— Visiting Broward County for a 2017 Republican fundraiser, West said in an interview he would give President Donald Trump a “C” for his first eight months in office. He’s currently an outspoken supporter. “I seriously hope the progressive socialist left continues their incessant blather because all it does is help ensure the reelection of @POTUS @realDonaldTrump,” West wrote Wednesday on Twitter.