DeSantis 'apoplectic' with top strategist after 'Defend Trump' blunder
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is already reeling in the polls and falling farther and farther behind Donald Trump in his bid for the 2024 Republican Party presidential nomination, is reportedly furious with his top strategist for leaking a debate strategy memo that ended up embarrassing the Florida governor.
According to a report from the Washington Post, multiple DeSantis insiders were on hand when he went on a tirade about Jeff Roe, his top strategist at the Never Back Down PAC, and has expressed regrets about hiring him.
The current focus of his ire was a pre-GOP debate strategy memo that was leaked which made the case for DeSantis to go after his rivals while also defending Donald Trump so as to not alienate his fans.
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That immediately led to criticism that the Florida governor looked weak.
As the Post is reporting, the Roe flap is another sign of "the internal drama that has complicated his struggling White House bid."
The Post's Hannah Knowles reports that "DeSantis has expressed regrets over Jeff Roe’s hiring as a lead strategist at the super PAC Never Back Down, an outside group that has assumed many responsibilities in the race traditionally handled by campaigns, two of the people said," before adding, "DeSantis has also voiced anger over a pre-debate strategy memo from Never Back Down, which was publicly posted last month on the website of Roe’s firm, Axiom, these people said. One of them, the donor, said the governor was 'apoplectic.'"
"After starting the year with high expectations and impressive polling numbers, DeSantis has lost considerable ground to Trump, who holds a commanding lead in polls of the GOP race. The DeSantis campaign has sought to reset its operation several times — laying off staff, bringing in new leadership and looking to the super PAC to cover more costs. The novel setup of a super PAC empowered to take on more than its counterparts from past presidential races put in place a sprawling operation with power centers that have at times felt out of sync with one another," the report added.
Chris Jankowski, the CEO of Never Back Down, disputed the account of DeSantis' meltdown, issuing a statement which claimed in part, "The Washington Post posting tabloid trash from anonymous sources is a pathetic new low in ‘journalism.’ These false claims are refuted across the board and vehemently. The great team at Never Back Down is putting in the hard work day in and day out that will help lift Gov. DeSantis to the nomination.”
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The top of a daily "Important Articles and Posts from President Trump" email that Donald Trump's 2024 campaign began sending out last week. Screengrab