Ron DeSantis is reportedly grousing behind the scenes about his embarrassing GOP debate strategy being leaked just days before the Fox News event. Adding insult to injury, the leak came from the Florida governor’s super PAC, Never Back Down, and he’s not thrilled with the lead strategist over there.
According to the Washington Post, DeSantis’ campaign is once-again awash in internal drama as the governor has reportedly soured on Never Back Down and has been privately complaining about the group’s performance. DeSantis entered the Republican primary as the biggest threat to Donald Trump and the most likely to secure the nomination. He’s now flailing in the polls and may not make it past Iowa or New Hampshire:
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. One, a DeSantis donor, heard the comments directly from the governor, this person said.
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.”
In DeSantis’ defense, the leaked memo was pretty humiliating thanks to its blatant attempt to have the governor try to drive in Trump’s lane by doling out weak nicknames to his opponents. One of those names was “Fake Vivek” or “Vivek the Fake,” which prompted Vivek Ramaswamy to slap DeSantis with a much more brutal and accurate nickname of his own: “Robot Ron.”
(Via Washington Post)