'Uphill battle': Key member of DeSantis' team paints bleak picture of his chances

A Ron DeSantis team member is warning that the campaign has an “uphill battle” and is falling apart in key states, Politico reported Monday.

Steve Cortes, a top spokesperson for the Florida governor’s political action committee, warned the effort to win his candidate the Republican nomination for president had fallen “way behind."

“Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” he said in a Twitter spaces event Sunday night.

“I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”

His bluntness included calling DeSantis the “clear underdog.”

“In the first four states which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”

He went on, “If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” Cortes said.

Cortes joined the DeSantis team in May after working on the Trump campaign during the last two presidential elections.