Former president Donald Trump’s presidential campaign sent a memo to donors of Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign on Monday highlighting the Florida governor’s recent struggles in the race and listing “relevant questions” for donors to ask.
“As Governor Ron DeSantis hits the road over the next week, seeking more funds for his campaign, we believe it is important to provide you, the donors who generously fund and raise money, with a list of relevant questions considering the current circumstances faced by his campaign,” reads the memo, written by Trump advisers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles.
The pair lists several of these aforementioned circumstances, including that “every public poll now shows Ron DeSantis trailing President Trump by a significant margin” and that senior campaign officials have acknowledged they are “way behind” and fighting an “uphill battle.”
A RealClearPolitics polling average has Trump leading DeSantis by 34 points.
The memo goes on to cite a recent NBC News report that features comments from a DeSantis-aligned operative who said, “From my understanding, if we don’t see a bump in the polls, we are basically going to shut down the idea of a national operation.”
The memo also includes reporting from ABC News that suggests “DeSantis’ early struggles to catch President Trump have led some of the Florida governor’s major donors to privately question his viability as a presidential candidate while Trump is still in the race, as multiple sources have told ABC News.” That report indicates that some top donors who planned to support DeSantis have allegedly started exploring other primary candidates.
Among the Trump campaign’s suggested questions for DeSantis donors: “What exactly are the 93 individuals on the campaign payroll doing?” and “How much has the campaign and SuperPAC spent on unmotivated door knockers?”
“Of course, if I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath expecting any answers or accountability,” the memo concludes. “Given the aforementioned points, if you still collectively pour millions of dollars into the failing Ron DeSantis campaign, you can’t say you weren’t warned.”
DeSantis appeared on Fox News on Sunday to address several of the recent reports about his campaign’s alleged troubles, including pieces in the Washington Post and the New York Times titled “Doubts rise amid early pains for DeSantis” and “DeSantis Sheds Staff Amid Heavy Spending,” respectively.
“Clearly you see an effort to create these narratives,” DeSantis told Howard Kurtz.
“I think the good thing about it is that Republican Primary voters are very smart,” he added. “They know where these corporate outlets stand on the political spectrum and so to the extent that they become convinced that the media does not want me to be the nominee, that will in the long run absolutely help me.”
“It’s interesting they’re talking about some of this campaign process,” DeSantis said, adding that his fundraising numbers for the second quarter were more substantial than those of both Trump and President Joe Biden.
DeSantis pulled in $19.7 million in the second quarter, while Trump recorded a $17 million haul. However, Trump’s campaign says it raised more than $35 million in the second quarter through his joint fundraising committee, which will transfer the money to his campaign and to a PAC. These numbers have yet to be independently confirmed, however.
DeSantis also brushed off questions about his standing in the polls, suggesting his support is growing in the early primary states.
“It is a state-by-state primary. I think it’d be political malpractice to be running for president fixated on national, rather than Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina,” DeSantis said.
In New Hampshire, Trump leads DeSantis by 24 points, according to an RCP average. In South Carolina, Trump is ahead by 19.7 points, per RCP, while a recent Iowa poll from National Research found Trump leading by 23 points in the Hawkeye State.