Hillsborough, Florida, County Sheriff Chad Chronister has asked to be removed from consideration to head President Trump's Drug Enforcement Administration. In a terse announcement, Sheriff Chronister laid out his reasons.

To have been nominated by President-Elect Donald Trump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime. Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully withdraw from consideration. There is more work to be done for the citizens of Hillsborough County and a lot of initiatives I am committed to fulfilling. I sincerely appreciate the nomination, outpouring of support by the American people, and look forward to continuing my service as Sheriff of Hillsborough County.

To have been nominated by President-Elect @realDonaldTrump to serve as Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration is the honor of a lifetime. Over the past several days, as the gravity of this very important responsibility set in, I’ve concluded that I must respectfully… pic.twitter.com/bvNF8m9Bh4

— Chad Chronister (@ChadChronister) December 3, 2024

Chronister was appointed Sheriff in 2017 and has since been reelected twice. President Trump nominated him on Saturday, but some of his policies as sheriff (support of DEI, support of red flag laws, for example) quickly developed opposition to his nomination.

READ MORE: Maybe President Trump Should Reconsider His Selection for Drug Enforcement Administration Chief

One such policy related to Chronister's stance on COVID vaccine mandates.

“I put out a policy a while ago that if you are unvaccinated and you have to quarantine or you get ill you have to use your own accrued time. If you are vaccinated and you get sick the sheriff’s office will cover your time off,” said Chad Chronister. https://t.co/R3XMV4Qmwo

— Cernovich (@Cernovich) December 1, 2024

In addition, Chronister refused to stop BLM rioters in 2020, but arrested a pastor for "illegally" holding services during the pandemic, and ascribes to soft-on-immigration policies.