Palm Beach GOP pulls support for candidate accused of molesting child

At long last, the Palm Beach County GOP has finally pulled its support for a Florida candidate accused of sexually abusing a child.

It seems the MAGA movement may not be completely immune to shame.

Palm Beach Republicans have been under pressure over their continued association with Mike Caruso, who was serving as the county’s clerk of the circuit court and comptroller before his August arrest on charges including kidnapping, molestation and child abuse. (Caruso has pleaded not guilty to the charges.)

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis suspended him from his position and suggested that his administration was unaware of any allegations of misconduct when it appointed Caruso.

On Monday, the Palm Beach GOP released a voter guide with Caruso as one of its preferred candidates, but his name was removed later in the day after his inclusion on the list was rebuked by DeSantis, Democratic gubernatorial nominee David Jolly and even Evan Power, the head of the Florida Republican Party.

In a post on X, the Palm Beach GOP wrote:

For the record, our guide originally listed every Republican nominee, as Florida Statute requires. As soon as we were permitted to remove the nominee running for a constitutional office, we did.

But that justification doesn’t seem to account for why the party felt the need to put out a voter guide that included someone accused of child molestation. The most obvious question: “Why not wait?”

UPDATED: PBC REPUBLICAN VOTER GUIDE

For the record, our guide originally listed every Republican nominee, as Florida Statute requires. As soon as we were permitted to remove the nominee running for a constitutional office, we did.

It is LEGAL to take this guide with you to vote pic.twitter.com/6w1IItIMur

— Palm Beach GOP (@PalmBeachGOP) October 6, 2026

Republicans can ill afford any more incidents that portray the party as friendly to sexual abusers. President Donald Trump, a Palm Beach resident himself, has been found liable for sexual abuse in a civil case and is mentioned many times in the Epstein files. (Trump has long denied any wrongdoing in relation to former associate Jeffrey Epstein, the late convicted sex offender.)

Continuing to associate with Caruso would only stand to remind voters of the ways the GOP has handled sexual abuse allegations.

The post Palm Beach GOP pulls support for candidate accused of molesting child appeared first on MS NOW.