Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has turned on his own super PAC, Never Back Down, accusing it of injuring his campaign with embarrassing leaks and poor advertising, Politico reported on Friday.
Infighting and dissatisfaction with the performance of Never Back Down "has broken out into the open in recent days," according to the report.
"Last week, NBC News reported on a near-physical altercation between top Never Back Down strategist Jeff Roe and one of the organization’s board members Scott Wagner ... The disclosure of the Roe-Wagner fight incensed DeSantis campaign officials, who blamed Never Back Down." One source near DeSantis said, "The last few weeks have caused the campaign to lose confidence in multiple top NBD officials as a result of poor performance as well as rampant leaking to push false, unauthorized narratives to the press."
It comes as Never Back Down suffers a string of high-profile resignations, including Adam Laxalt, a former Nevada senatorial candidate and close ally of DeSantis who was the candidate's roommate during DeSantis' time in the Navy.
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Never Back Down also faces intense scrutiny over paying for some of DeSantis' private jet expenses, which is unusual because super PACs cannot directly coordinate with the campaigns they support.
According to Politico, DeSantis' campaign put out a memo saying that, although Never Back Down was running a competent field operation and should still receive money for that purpose, a different, newer super PAC, Fight Right, should take the lead on television advertising from now on.
"The campaign doesn’t think NBD’s current interim leadership should be within a mile of a TV budget," one source told Politico.
In recent months, DeSantis candidacy, once polling even with or even leading that of former President Donald Trump, has slipped to a nearly 50-point deficit in some polls, and he's in danger of losing his runner-up status to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
