The founder of a political action committee supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s presidential bid quit the job as he’s lost confidence in DeSantis, calling him “a very flawed candidate” in a Rolling Stone interview—marking the latest DeSantis backer to disavow his campaign amid a series of missteps and worsening poll numbers.
Florida Governor and 2024 Republican Presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis looks on after speaking at ... [+]
Ed Rollins, a former supporter of former President Donald Trump who launched the Ready for Ron committee last year, said he is no longer with the organization, telling Rolling Stone “I don’t think it’s the campaign’s fault at all; it’s his,” while pointing to DeSantis’s focus on culture wars.
Rollins, who served as campaign manager for former President Ronald Reagan’s successful 1984 campaign and co-chaired the Trump-aligned Great America PAC, announced plans in January to spend more than $3 million on ads in support of DeSantis’s campaign, though Federal Election Commission reports show the PAC raised about $1.85 million this year and spent most of it as of June 30.
The group, which changed its name to “Ready to Win” after DeSantis formally announced his campaign, also caught flak from DeSantis advisors who told Fox News it was a “grift” that was taking money from DeSantis donors that could have gone directly toward his campaign.
“Every time he opens his mouth, he has a tendency to—shall we say—think out-loud, and he clearly doesn’t understand the game,” Rollins told Rolling Stone.
Forbes has reached out to Ready to Win and the DeSantis campaign.
Rollins is latest one-time DeSantis backer to express waning confidence in his campaign as it failed to gain traction and Trump appears to be cruising toward the nomination. Sabin Metal Corporation’s Andy Sabin, who previously said he planned to back DeSantis, is now supporting Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C) for the GOP nomination. News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch has also reportedly soured on DeSantis. Interactive Brokers founder Thomas Peterffy recently walked back his previous support for DeSantis, and Citadel hedge fund founder Ken Griffin has also reportedly grown uncertain about DeSantis, after publicly praising him in November.
Trump repeatedly criticized DeSantis at a series of campaign events over the weekend, reprising his “DeSanctus” nickname and telling attendees at a dinner in Iowa not to “take a chance” on DeSantis.
DeSantis repeated his frequent talking points in defense of his campaign against critics over the weekend, telling reporters he relishes the criticism because he believes it means his opponents view him as a viable threat. Despite his declining poll numbers coinciding with increased insults from Trump, he said he believes they turn away voters. “I think they look at it and they realize, like, ‘you know what? That’s not effective,” he told reporters in New Hampshire, calling Trump’s insults “juvenile.”
17%. That’s the share of registered GOP voters who said they will cast their ballots for DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential primary, compared to 54% for Trump, according to a Monday New York Times/Siena poll of 818 Republican voters (margin of error 4 points).
DeSantis has sparked a steady stream of controversies since his glitch-plagued campaign announcement on Twitter Spaces in May. In recent weeks, he’s drawn widespread backlash for defending new Florida public school curriculum that teaches kids slavery taught some Black people “skills” that “could be applied for their personal benefit.” His campaign also shared a widely criticized and bizarre anti-LGBTQ video during Pride Month and a staffer was recently let go after he made another video that featured an image of a Nazi symbol. DeSantis has also bore down on his culture wars with Disney over its denouncement of the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws, despite the battle causing Florida to lose out on economic investments and tourism dollars, and he’s also threatened to sue Bud Light’s parent company for featuring a transgender social media star in advertisements. In addition to DeSantis’s messaging problem, his campaign is reportedly burning through cash, a large portion of which has been spent on private flights for DeSantis. One anonymous Republican donor with ties to both Trump and DeSantis blamed DeSantis’s staff for “making him look like a fool” the donor told Rolling Stone, an apparent reference to some staffers’ controversial social media posts. Another Republican donor said DeSantis, not his staff, appear to be “the problem,” telling Rolling Stone that a campaign makeover would still leave “the governor at the top.”
DeSantis’s campaign waged a reboot in recent weeks that includes cutting staff by 30%, rolling out a series of policy proposals designed to draw contrast with Trump, focusing its efforts on key primary states and lifting his boycott on mainstream media.
DeSantis Signals He’d Pardon Trump—With Apparent Dig At His Age (Forbes)
DeSantis Downsizing Continues: Campaign Sheds Third Of Its Staff Amid Spiraling Poll Numbers (Forbes)