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Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign

December 15, 2023

On May 24, 2023, Ron DeSantis, the 46th and current governor of Florida, announced his candidacy for the 2024 United States presidential election. He is seeking the Republican Party nomination in its 2024 presidential primaries.

Ron DeSantis for President
Campaign
CandidateRon DeSantis
46th Governor of Florida
(2019–present)
AffiliationRepublican Party
StatusAnnounced: May 24, 2023
HeadquartersTallahassee, Florida
Key people
  • Casey DeSantis (wife and advisor)[1]
  • James Uthmeier (campaign manager)[2]
  • Dustin Carmack (policy director)[3]
  • Bryan Griffin (press secretary)[4]
ReceiptsUS$20,000,000[5]
SloganOur Great American Comeback[6]
Never Back Down[7][8]
Website
rondesantis.com

DeSantis won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016. He sought Marco Rubio's U.S. Senate seat in 2016, withdrawing when Rubio announced he would seek reelection. In 2018, he was elected governor of Florida, winning reelection in 2022. DeSantis's aggressive decisions during his governorship led to speculation that he would run for president. Rupert Murdoch's New York Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Fox News promoted DeSantis as an alternative to former president Donald Trump following the January 6 Capitol attack. In early 2023, he began a book tour for his newly-published memoir The Courage to Be Free in early voting states.

DeSantis officially announced his campaign in a Twitter Spaces discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk, following the release of his plans to the Associated Press a day earlier. Technical issues affected the discussion and became a focal point for critics. His campaign began with an in-person event in Iowa, followed by a tour in early voting states. The DeSantis campaign has begun a canvassing and door knocking effort amid opposition from Donald Trump. DeSantis has focused on his governorship and his policy record. In particular, he has touted his stance on LGBT issues and his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida in an effort to differentiate himself from Trump.[9]

Background edit

See also: Political positions of Ron DeSantis

In 2012, DeSantis secured a seat in the House of Representatives for Florida's 6th congressional district.[10] He was reelected in 2014 and 2016.[11][12] DeSantis served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, chairing the latter's Subcommittee on National Security, the Border and Foreign Affairs.[13] During the 2016 Senate election in Florida, he ran for the seat held by Marco Rubio, who abstained from running from reelection due to his presidential campaign. Following Rubio's withdrawal and subsequent reelection campaign, DeSantis dropped out of the race.[14] In January 2018, DeSantis filed to run for governor of Florida in the state's gubernatorial election to succeed Republican incumbent Rick Scott.[15] Supported by then-president Donald Trump,[16] DeSantis won the Republican primary in August and resigned from Congress in September.[17] DeSantis and his running mate, Jeanette Núñez were confirmed the winners, following a statewide recount that led to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum conceding.[18] DeSantis signaled his intent to run in the 2022 gubernatorial election in September 2021, launching his reelection bid in November.[19] In a landslide victory,[20][21] he defeated Democratic nominee Charlie Crist, the governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011.[22]

 
Ron DeSantis's congressional portrait, 2013

DeSantis's tenure as the governor of Florida has seen several major developments. The COVID-19 pandemic in Florida began in March 2020; subverting scientific consensus, DeSantis downplayed the effectiveness of face masks against COVID-19 and attempted to reopen Florida while following Trump's advice.[23] He appointed Joseph Ladapo, a noted COVID-19 vaccine skeptic and a signee of the Great Barrington Declaration, as Florida's surgeon general in September 2021,[24][25] while fining local governments for enforcing vaccine mandates.[26] DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act in March 2022, prohibiting public schools in Florida from discussing or having classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade and beginning a feud with the The Walt Disney Company.[27] In April 2023, Disney sued DeSantis.[28] DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban while supporting limited government and taking a hard stance on crime.[29] He downplayed running for president in August 2020, calling the speculation around a potential bid "total garbage".[30]

Pre-candidacy developments edit

Early speculation edit

By January 2021, DeSantis had been a potential candidate in the 2024 presidential election. He was invited to the Republican National Committee's January meeting in Amelia Island, despite supporting then-president Donald Trump at the time.[31] DeSantis's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida ascended him further within the Republican Party; Josh Holmes, an advisor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said that DeSantis was "having a moment with conservatives".[32] In October 2022, former Florida governor Jeb Bush praised DeSantis as a potential 2024 candidate, and in February 2023, repeated his hopes that DeSantis would run,[33] while reserving he was "praising, not endorsing" DeSantis.[34] A Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) straw poll saw DeSantis second only to Trump, and the only other Republican to receive double digit polling numbers in the poll.[35] In May, DeSantis spoke to the Republican Party in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, further fueling speculation of a potential bid, as some Democrats began seeking to mount a campaign against him.[36][37] Despite various endorsements, he publicly opposed a presidential bid, saying that the discussion over his candidacy was "purely manufactured" in a press conference in September 2021.[38] State straw polls suggested a strong connection with college-educated voters within the Republican Party and narrow victories against Trump.[39]

In conservative media, DeSantis was frequently featured and developed a mutual relationship. In an email obtained by the Tampa Bay Times, a Fox News producer said that he "could host [Fox & Friends]". DeSantis forged alliances with conservative pundits, hosting political commentator Dave Rubin and Newsmax reporter Benny Johnson to the Governor's Mansion in January 2022.[40] In The American Conservative and the National Review, he was lauded as a strong alternative to Trump.[41] As the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal—owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp—began to appear critical of Trump for the January 6 Capitol attack,[42] Murdoch's Fox News began shifting coverage to DeSantis and worked with his team to portray him in a positive light;[43] The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman's book, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America (2022), states Murdoch was willing to "throw [Trump] over" following his loss in the 2020 presidential election.[44] The New York Post ran the headline, "DeFuture", after DeSantis was reelected, while The Wall Street Journal proclaimed it the "DeSantis Florida tsunami".[45]

DeSantis's speculative campaign was targeted by conspiracy theorists, particularly followers of QAnon. In February 2023, Hungarian-American businessman George Soros expressed his hope that DeSantis would defeat Trump for the Republican nomination, although he qualified this as a hope that such an outcome would result in Trump running as a third-party candidate and splitting the Republican vote rather than a DeSantis presidency, and therefore was not an endorsement.[46] Opponents of DeSantis later seized upon this, putting forward conspiracy theories that DeSantis was "a tool of the Deep State", with "more than 12,000 mentions of 'DeSoros' on social media and news sites" from January to May 2023. Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake falsely claimed that Soros had endorsed DeSantis, which she referred to as "the kiss of death".[47] As speculation continued, Trump mounted attacks against DeSantis, referring to him as "Ron DeSanctimonious" at a rally in Pennsylvania in November 2022, in advance for a presidential campaign.[48] The New York Times reported that Trump has casually used the nickname "Meatball Ron";[49] DeSantis is Italian-American.[50] Several days after the article was published, Trump said on Truth Social that he "will never call Ron DeSanctimonious 'Meatball' Ron", and that it is "totally inappropriate".[51]

Preparing for a run edit

 
DeSantis's international visits were considered to improve his credentials on foreign policy

In February 2023, DeSantis released The Courage to Be Free, a memoir overviewing his political beliefs, and subsequently embarked on a book tour in the early-voting states of Iowa,[52] New Hampshire,[53] Nevada,[54] and South Carolina,[55] among other states. Despite teasing a potential presidential bid,[56] DeSantis stated that the tour was intended to advocate for his record as the governor of Florida, rather than Trump.[57] In April, he visited Japan, South Korea, Israel, and the United Kingdom, in a move considered to improve his credentials on foreign policy.[58] DeSantis was criticized for an apparent lackluster performance over the course of the trip.[59] According to The Guardian, DeSantis began assembling senior staff on February 27.[60] The Florida Legislature passed an elections bill in April that removes the requirement that DeSantis must resign as the governor of Florida if he launches a presidential campaign.[61] The bill was signed into law by DeSantis hours before he was expected to announce his candidacy.[62] At the end of the Florida legislature session on May 12, DeSantis told reporters that he'll "put up or shut up" on a campaign announcement soon.[63] A person affiliated with DeSantis's campaign told The Hill on May 19 that DeSantis would file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission the following week,[64] and DeSantis's Twitter handle was changed from @RonDeSantisFL to @RonDeSantis on May 23.[65]

Ahead of a potential presidential bid, reports of DeSantis's aloof personality began to form. In the most notable of these instances, The Daily Beast reported in March 2023 that—during a private plane trip in March 2019 from Tallahassee to Washington, D.C.—DeSantis ate a "chocolate pudding dessert" using three fingers, according to two sources. A former staffer told the publication that DeSantis would eat "like a starving animal who has never eaten before" as part of a section about his tenuous social skills. Although he denied the incident, it quickly garnered press attention.[66][67] A political action committee (PAC) aligned with Trump ran a political message in April titled "Pudding Fingers" and featuring claims DeSantis had made across a backdrop of a man eating pudding with three fingers.[68] Speaking to NBC News, multiple Republican colleagues said that DeSantis was "a loner" who was often seen on his cellphone.[69] The New York Times reported that DeSantis used bike racks to separate himself from the crowd during his visit to Iowa.[70] A video of DeSantis laughing went viral and drew comparison to the Dean scream, a political gaffe in Howard Dean's 2004 presidential campaign.[71]

Prior to the campaign announcement, allies of DeSantis established a political action committee known as Friends of Ron DeSantis. Although the PAC raised US$86 million, its funds cannot be transferred to Ron DeSantis for President because they were raised under looser laws. On May 15, Friends of Ron DeSantis filed paperwork with the Florida Division of Elections changing its name to "Empower Parents" and devoted its new mission to "protecting parental rights in education", in an apparent effort to distribute the funds and circumvent federal law. The watchdog group Campaign Legal Center has stated that it will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission if the funds are transferred. Empower Parents may transfer its funds to Never Back Down, a federal super PAC that has raised US$30 million.[72] Never Back Down has run ads in key early-voting states that directly target Trump,[73] and expects to have a budget of US$200 million. The PAC intends to transfer US$80 million from one of DeSantis's political accounts.[74] Although the transfer would have been prevented under state law, the Florida Department of State changed its handbook to allow such a transfer, citing Citizens United v. FEC (2010).[75]

Campaign edit

Announcement edit

 
 Ron DeSantis   Twitter
@RonDeSantis

I'm running for president to lead our Great American Comeback.

May 24, 2023[76][77]

On May 23, 2023, a campaign insider revealed plans to the Associated Press for DeSantis to announce his candidacy on Twitter Spaces with Twitter CEO Elon Musk at 6:00 p.m. EDT the following day, after meeting with donors at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami.[78] Musk then officially announced the live conversation.[79] Hours before the discussion took place, DeSantis officially filed with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).[80] DeSantis tweeted a launch video minutes before the Twitter Space began.[81] During the call, which attracted over 600,000 Twitter users,[82] technical issues severely affected the announcement as DeSantis was unable to speak for 20 minutes. The Twitter Space was restarted, but lost a significant number of listeners.[83] The conversation was moderated by David Sacks, a confidant of Musk's during his acquisition of Twitter and a Republican donor who praised DeSantis and gave him US$50,000.[84] Following the meeting, DeSantis appeared on Fox News Tonight and spoke to former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy, joking about the technical issues.[85] Protesters gathered at the Four Seasons hotel prior to the DeSantis announcement.[86] Although Sacks claimed that the event was the "biggest room ever held on social media", BuzzFeed's Facebook Live livestream of an exploding watermelon stunt and a livestream of April, a then-pregnant giraffe at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville, New York, exceeded it in viewership. An estimated 3.4 million people listened to the interview or a recording of it, according to Twitter.[87] Following the announcement, DeSantis appeared on a variety of conservative media, including Erick Erickson's Erick Erickson Show and The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show, suggesting that he would pardon Trump if convicted, as well as participants of the January 6 Capitol attack.[88] On The Ben Shapiro Show, he pledged to repeal the First Step Act, signed by Trump in 2018 at the behest of his son-in-law Jared Kushner. These appearances have antagonized Trump; in his interview with Shapiro, DeSantis criticized Trump for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[89]

The technical issues experienced during the Twitter Space overshadowed DeSantis's message. President Joe Biden, who is running for reelection, tweeted "This link works", followed by a link to his own campaign donation. Trump wrote on Truth Social that DeSantis's collar was "too big" in his launch video;[90] he later released a satirical video of a fake Twitter Spaces event, with figures such as George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Adolf Hitler, and the Devil in attendance.[91] Trump followed the video up with another video of a rocket—labeled "Ron 2024", referencing Jeb Bush's 2016 presidential campaign logo—falling over. Both videos appear to be generated by artificial intelligence.[92] Florida representative Matt Gaetz, a prominent Trump ally, tweeted, "DeSedative".[93] Conservative media quickly used the technical issues to lampoon DeSantis. National Review editor Philip Klein called it a disaster,[94] as did Fox News.[95] The Daily Mail ran the headline, "Ron's Desaster"—a term that became a trending hashtag on Twitter[96]—while Breitbart News called it a "DeBacle for DeSantis".[97] Conversely, conservative commentator Ben Shapiro wrote that those concerned about the "optics of the Twitter Spaces glitch" are unlikely to vote for DeSantis.[95] Musk positioned the discussion as a success, pointing to media coverage of its failure.[98] DeSantis's campaign later released a statement clarifying that the issues experienced during the Twitter Space were due to an influx of people listening to the audio discussion at once; campaign spokesperson Dave Abrams called it "Internet-breaking excitement."[99] According to The New York Times, employees had not run a stress test beforehand.[100] The Tampa Bay Times attributed the lack of a response from late-night talk show hosts, such as Stephen Colbert and John Oliver, to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.[101]

Initial stages and opposition edit

On May 30, DeSantis held his first in-person event at Eternity Church in Clive, Iowa, in a decision considered by the Associated Press to strengthen his connection with evangelical Christian voters. He subsequently appeared in other cities across Iowa, including Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Pella, and concluding his visit in Cedar Rapids.[102] In a Fox & Friends interview, DeSantis called Iowa "very important" and drew parallels to the six-week abortion ban he signed into law with Iowa's. The event is part of a tri-state tour billed the "Great American Comeback Tour",[88] in which he will visit twelve cities in the United States, including those in the key early voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina.[103] During his visit to New Hampshire, DeSantis sparred with an Associated Press reporter in Laconia, asking him, "Are you blind?" The incident attracted media attention; Never Back Down framed it as an instance of him shutting down "fake news".[104] In Manchester, DeSantis was met by reproductive rights protesters.[105] On June 7, DeSantis visited the Mexico–United States border in Arizona, meeting Cochise County sheriff Mark Dannels.[106] Simultaneously, he began a US$100 million door-knocking effort. The DeSantis campaign has established a boot camp—referred to by allies as "Fort Benning"—to encourage canvassing efforts.[107] DeSantis fielded questions at a town hall event in New Hampshire on June 27.[108] In a pluvial event, DeSantis marched in an Independence Day parade in New Hampshire.[109] DeSantis's wife, Casey DeSantis, announced she would launch a grassroots group called "Mamas for DeSantis" with Iowa governor Kim Reynolds days after DeSantis and Trump crossed paths at a Moms for Liberty convention.[110][111] In a subsequent video, she called for mothers to mobilize to "protect the innocence of our children and to protect the rights of parents".[112] DeSantis made her first independent appearance on July 6 with Reynolds. Through her words—both privately and publicly, Reynolds has created an environment that has favored DeSantis, drawing ire from Trump.[113] Trump attacked Reynolds and will skip out on a gathering in Des Moines, Iowa, for The Family Leader hosted by politician Bob Vander Plaats, to which DeSantis came to her defense[114] and indirectly told him, "Nobody is entitled to this nomination", on The Howie Carr Show.[115]

This is a war of a certain kind, and what you do is, generally speaking, the person that's in second place, you go after that person as opposed to the person in eighth or ninth place.

—Trump explaining his feud with DeSantis[116]

The Trump campaign has sought to directly attack DeSantis, with the two campaigns often employing imagery generated by artificial intelligence (AI) or other synthetic media. Days after DeSantis announced his candidacy, prominent Trump allies—such as his son, Donald Trump Jr.—shared a scene of The Office episode "The Negotiation" with DeSantis's face digitally imposed onto Michael Scott's face; the scene involved a meeting with Scott and Darryl Philbin in which Scott wears a women's suit and is called out for it. Shortly thereafter, the DeSantis campaign used a sequence of images featuring Trump with former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci in a campaign commercial. While some of the images are real, the DeSantis campaign interspersed the sequence with AI-generated images of Trump kissing and hugging Fauci, as first noted by Agence France-Presse.[117] Congresspersons and Trump allies J. D. Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the advertisement, with Greene asking for its removal. Rapid response director Christina Pushaw posted an AI-generated image of DeSantis riding a rhinoceros, referencing the pejorative term Republican in Name Only (RINO).[118] Despite remaining allies during the COVID-19 pandemic, Trump and DeSantis have disagreed with each other's handling of the pandemic. Trump has released advertisements with DeSantis—dubbed "Lockdown Ron"—issuing stay-at-home orders.[119] The two men's feud has extended into Never Back Down mockingly following Trump in a bus.[120] In a series of Truth Social posts, he claimed that DeSantis is attempting to "get out" of the 2024 presidential election.[121] Trump launched a "Farmers for Trump" coalition in June, criticizing DeSantis's stance on the Renewable Fuel Standard and questioning his support for the agricultural industry, particularly in Iowa.[122] DeSantis has also faced opposition from Rupert Murdoch's media outlets. Fox News's Will Cain and Maria Bartiromo questioned DeSantis on the vitality of his campaign, while The Wall Street Journal criticized him for an immigration bill he signed in May and the New York Post has covered his campaign struggles.[123]

During Pride Month, his campaign shared an ad described as both homophobic and homoerotic,[124] which criticized Trump for his supportive comments toward LGBT rights during the 2016 presidential campaign. The DeSantis ad contrasts Trump's comments with news headlines about DeSantis' anti-LGBT policies, interwoven with a "jarring series" of clips, including a heavily muscled man known as Gigachad, images of DeSantis shooting lasers out of his eyes, obscure right-wing memes, and movie clips of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho, Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street, and Achilles in Troy, who is often depicted as a gay man in Ancient Greek literature.[125][126] The video was criticized by many Democrats and Republicans.[125][127][128][129] In response, DeSantis doubled down on his criticism of Trump as a "pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream".[130] The video was removed from Twitter on July 7 for copyright violations.[126] According to The New York Times, the video was produced by a DeSantis staffer and handed off to a supporter, to make the ad appear independent of the campaign.[124]

First campaign reset edit

In July, two senior advisors left the DeSantis campaign to work on an outside campaign effort.[131] Amid financial issues, the campaign let go fewer than ten aides involved in event planning, according to Politico, leaving the campaign with at least 90 employees. Never Back Down has received résumés from the laid off staffers.[132] In a perceived slight towards Trump's comments at a Dairy Queen in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in which he asked what a Blizzard was, DeSantis visited a Dairy Queen and ordered a Blizzard.[133] He did not appear at the Turning Point Action Conference that month, in contrast with Trump, who dismissed his candidacy and seized on his absence. Campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin stated that DeSantis was instead in Iowa and spoke at the Tennessee Republican Party Statesman's Dinner. According to organizers, he declined to speak at the conference. Other speakers at the event—such as representatives Matt Gaetz, Byron Donalds, and Anna Paulina Luna—supported Trump.[134] At a fundraising event in Ankeny, Iowa, DeSantis told reporters that he would consider Kim Reynolds as a potential vice president if he wins the Republican nomination.[135] He is scaling back his travel schedule to prioritize early voting states and focusing on media interviews, including an interview with CNN's Jake Tapper on The Lead with Jake Tapper, marking the first time he has appeared on a non-conservative outlet.[136] Griffin told the New York Post that the DeSantis campaign prioritizes fundraising over media attention, chiding mainstream media.[137] The campaign's acceptance of the mainstream media is a departure from the isolationist strategy seen in the days following DeSantis's announcement that was once described as a "safe space" by Axios.[138]

DeSantis became the first major candidate to file in South Carolina, but that day his campaign events in Tega Cay and West Columbia were overshadowed by news that Jack Smith was advancing the investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack by naming Trump as a target.[139] That month, Never Back Down ran a political advertisement that—while using a post written by him on Truth Social—used an audio deepfake of Trump as part of an Iowa advertisement buy worth at least US$1 million.[140] Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita criticized the use of artificial intelligence in the advertisement.[141] According to NBC News, DeSantis will run as an insurgent rather than an incumbent governor and will lean less into his governorship as a whole.[142] He appeared at the Utah State Capitol with Utah governor Spencer Cox, where he appealed to the state's evangelical base.[143]

Later that month, Politico reported that DeSantis had cut his campaign staff by a third, or the jobs of 38 aides, signaling a need to rein in funding.[144] On the same day, he was involved in a car crash at approximately 8:15 a.m in Chattanooga, Tennessee, that lightly injured one aide, and on the same day as a donor retreat in Park City, Utah.[145] A pro-DeSantis Twitter account received criticism for posting a video that depicted a Sonnenrad, a symbol used by neo-Nazis, in the video's background. The video was retweeted by a DeSantis campaign staffer but was eventually deleted after massive criticism and backlash.[146] The video creator and its retweeter was revealed to be former National Review writer and campaign speechwriter Nate Hochman, who was subsequently fired.[147] It was later revealed that the DeSantis campaign was directly involved in the creation of this and similar "meme videos", after chat logs from a campaign "war room" were revealed by Semafor.[148][149] On August 8, DeSantis replaced campaign manager Generra Peck with James Uthmeier. Peck became the chief strategist.[150]

Second campaign reset edit

DeSantis reset his campaign for a second time on August 11.[151] In October, DeSantis' campaign announced that they were moving roughly a third of their staff members to Iowa. DeSantis also began a plan to visit all 99 Iowan counties.[152] He completed this tour in early December, a few weeks before the 2024 caucuses in the state.[153] During the tour, Iowa governor Kim Reynolds broke her previous neutrality between Trump and DeSantis and endorsed DeSantis at a rally in November.[154] Also in November, DeSantis had a debate with California governor Gavin Newsom, who is not running for president.[155]

Financials edit

Fundraising edit

The DeSantis campaign announced that DeSantis raised a total of US$8.2 million from online donations and donations made at the Four Seasons Miami, outpacing Trump, who had raised US$9.5 million in the six weeks after he announced his campaign.[156] His campaign is also supported by Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow, whose US$20 million donation to Never Back Down is one of the largest of a single donor in a presidential primary.[157] In a USA Today interview, donors expressed indifference for DeSantis's declining poll numbers, comparing it to a marathon.[158] The donor network of Charles Koch, one of the biggest spenders in American politics,[159] considered supporting DeSantis, but early campaign stumbles have worried Koch.[160] Never Back Down raised an "unprecedented" US$500,000 through the Draft DeSantis 2024 Fund in the days following DeSantis's announcement.[161] By July 6, the DeSantis campaign had raised US$20 million, while Never Back Down touted that it had raised US$130 million.[5] According to a campaign finance disclosure that month, a majority of the money earned by the campaign came from donors who gave the legal maximum, suggesting solvency issues.[162] To reach these donors, DeSantis used private planes, cutting into his funding.[163] The report shows funding slowed down after he announced his candidacy.[164]

In fundraising emails, DeSantis has focused on culture war issues—such as transgender men getting pregnant—with his emails mentioning "woke" more than any other Republican candidate.[165] Seeking to contrast him with Trump, the DeSantis campaign has sought to avoid the beseeching undertone present in many of Trump's fundraising emails. DeSantis's campaign website promises to avoid "smoke and mirrors" and unrealistic donation matching promises. His advisors have argued that transparency with donors could effectively counter the advantage Democratic candidates have had with ActBlue, an online fundraising software, while its Republican alternative, WinRed, was created 15 years later; Never Back Down chief operating officer Kristin Davison stated that a challenge for Republicans is "building out the small-dollar universe". DeSantis's approach has been tried by senator Bernie Sanders, who utilized grassroots donors in his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns.[166] Despite this, he has siphoned off former Trump donors, earning more than twice as much from former donors than Nikki Haley; nearly half of all total donations came from precincts that supported Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.[167]

Never Back Down has taken aggressive measures to attract door knockers in a mass national canvassing measure. By July 2023, the organization had an estimated 350 to 400 canvassers, according to Davison. The PAC's canvassing efforts contrast with traditional presidential field organizing efforts, which typically use volunteers. Never Back Down tracks canvassers through an app and must write down their interactions with voters. Although door knockers are reportedly trained and vetted, The Washington Post obtained several videos from Ring doorbells. In one video, a cannabis intoxicated canvasser used "lewd remarks", leading to his firing. Virginia representative Barbara Comstock spoke critically of this practice, stating that campaigns want volunteers who are local and well-versed in the politics of the state. Door knockers are trained at a facility in west Des Moines, Iowa, known as "Fort Benning", where they are coached to avoid reporters and Trump supporters and respect "no trespassing" signs but not "no soliciting" signs. They are managed by subcontractors, including Vanguard Field Strategies, a subsidiary of Axiom Strategies, whose founder—Jeff Roe—is the chief strategist for Never Back Down.[168]

In August 2023, financial filings revealed that Never Back Down had US$97 million in cash on hand and spent US$34 million.[169] The filings show a reliance on wealthy donors, including Bigelow.[170]

On November 27, 2023, it was revealed that DeSantis had spent the most out of any candidate on advertisements, surpassing both Donald Trump and Joe Biden, with $249.1 million, amounting to 497 unique ads of which $84.23 million was spent in Iowa and $47.61 million was spent in New Hampshire.[171]

Legality edit

In May 2023, NBC News reported that staff for the DeSantis administration sent text messages soliciting donations from Florida lobbyists, a potentially legally strenuous maneuver.[172] During a campaign effort in the border city of Eagle Pass, Texas, DeSantis shared a photo op of himself posing in front of a helicopter on Twitter.[173] Although the photo was intended to boost his campaign, DeSantis received criticism when The Daily Beast stated that the helicopter was taxpayer-funded. The publication also noted that DeSantis took a tour of the Rio Grande on a boat owned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of Operation Lone Star, accompanied by a Fox News reporter; The New York Times confirmed the boat's status. The Federal Election Commission requires candidates to reimburse government entities when using aircraft given to them.[174] In July, NBC News obtained a confidential campaign memo intended to quell donor concerns; the memo shows that DeSantis is focusing on early voting states and that he views only former President Donald Trump as a significant threat.[175]

Polling edit

Main articles: Nationwide opinion polling for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries and Statewide opinion polling for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries

Although DeSantis initially faced competitive support to Trump according to aggregate FiveThirtyEight polls, the margin between Trump and DeSantis increased from January 2023 to May 2023. According to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute between May 18 to 22, DeSantis attracted 25% of Republican voters compared to Trump's 56% hold.[176] FiveThirtyEight's Geoffrey Skelley noted Trump's rise in the time between November 2022, when he declared his candidacy, and May 2023. In that time, Trump was able to attack DeSantis for following many of the beliefs established by the Freedom Caucus, which he co-founded. Trump convinced many Florida congressional Republicans to back him and garnered endorsements, and his indictment bolstered his ratings.[177] In April 2023, DeSantis signed a six-week abortion ban, which led Republican megadonors to worry that he had shifted too far to the right.[178] In spite of this, DeSantis has gained a following among suburban mothers.[179]

Trump's presence in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries and his core followers, as well as an increasing field, have presented challenges for the DeSantis campaign. Ryan Tyson, a senior advisor to DeSantis, said that the campaign seeks to accrue voters who will neither vote exclusively for Trump nor identify with the Never Trump movement. According to Tyson, additional entrants split up the Never Trump electorate. Other candidates, such as Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy, have focused on attacking DeSantis rather than Trump; Ramaswamy dined with Trump and his son-in-law Jared Kushner—a close friend of Ramaswamy—at Trump's property in Bedminster, New Jersey, in 2021.[180] Following Trump's second indictment, DeSantis fell nine percent in the RealClearPolitics national average.[181] Former Trump advisor and Never Back Down spokesperson Steve Cortes called Trump the "runaway frontrunner" and admitted to being "way behind."[182][183]

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ Glueck, Katie (May 24, 2023). "Florida's first lady, and second in command". The New York Times. from the original on May 24, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Nehamas, Nicholas; Goldmacher, Shane; Haberman, Maggie (August 8, 2023). "DeSantis Replaces Campaign Manager in Major Shake-Up". The New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2023.
  3. ^ Swan, Jonathan; Haberman, Maggie (March 30, 2023). "DeSantis Reunites With a Key Adviser as Campaign Plans Unfold". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2023.
  4. ^ Ceballos, Ana (May 16, 2023). "DeSantis' political operation makes more moves ahead of expected 2024 campaign launch". Miami Herald. from the original on May 20, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Greenwood, Max (July 6, 2023). "DeSantis raises $20M in first 6 weeks of 2024 bid, campaign says". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  6. ^ Singh, Maanvi; Stein, Chris; Lawther, Fran (May 25, 2023). "Ron DeSantis doubles down on rightwing agenda in glitchy Twitter campaign launch – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
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Works cited edit

Further reading edit

  • Knowles, Hannah; Dawsey, Josh; Scherer, Michael; LeVine, Marianne (July 15, 2023). "'A long slog': Inside DeSantis's early struggles and effort to rebound". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 16, 2023.

December 15, 2023
desantis, 2024, presidential, campaign, 2023, desantis, 46th, current, governor, florida, announced, candidacy, 2024, united, states, presidential, election, seeking, republican, party, nomination, 2024, presidential, primaries, desantis, presidentcampaign2024. On May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis the 46th and current governor of Florida announced his candidacy for the 2024 United States presidential election He is seeking the Republican Party nomination in its 2024 presidential primaries Ron DeSantis for PresidentCampaign2024 Republican primaries 2024 U S presidential electionCandidateRon DeSantis46th Governor of Florida 2019 present AffiliationRepublican PartyStatusAnnounced May 24 2023HeadquartersTallahassee FloridaKey peopleCasey DeSantis wife and advisor 1 James Uthmeier campaign manager 2 Dustin Carmack policy director 3 Bryan Griffin press secretary 4 ReceiptsUS 20 000 000 5 SloganOur Great American Comeback 6 Never Back Down 7 8 Websiterondesantis wbr comDeSantis won election to the U S House of Representatives in 2012 and was reelected in 2014 and 2016 He sought Marco Rubio s U S Senate seat in 2016 withdrawing when Rubio announced he would seek reelection In 2018 he was elected governor of Florida winning reelection in 2022 DeSantis s aggressive decisions during his governorship led to speculation that he would run for president Rupert Murdoch s New York Post The Wall Street Journal and Fox News promoted DeSantis as an alternative to former president Donald Trump following the January 6 Capitol attack In early 2023 he began a book tour for his newly published memoir The Courage to Be Free in early voting states DeSantis officially announced his campaign in a Twitter Spaces discussion with Twitter CEO Elon Musk following the release of his plans to the Associated Press a day earlier Technical issues affected the discussion and became a focal point for critics His campaign began with an in person event in Iowa followed by a tour in early voting states The DeSantis campaign has begun a canvassing and door knocking effort amid opposition from Donald Trump DeSantis has focused on his governorship and his policy record In particular he has touted his stance on LGBT issues and his handling of the COVID 19 pandemic in Florida in an effort to differentiate himself from Trump 9 Contents 1 Background 2 Pre candidacy developments 2 1 Early speculation 2 2 Preparing for a run 3 Campaign 3 1 Announcement 3 2 Initial stages and opposition 3 3 First campaign reset 3 4 Second campaign reset 4 Financials 4 1 Fundraising 4 2 Legality 5 Polling 6 See also 7 References 7 1 Citations 7 2 Works cited 8 Further readingBackground editSee also Political positions of Ron DeSantis In 2012 DeSantis secured a seat in the House of Representatives for Florida s 6th congressional district 10 He was reelected in 2014 and 2016 11 12 DeSantis served on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Oversight and Accountability chairing the latter s Subcommittee on National Security the Border and Foreign Affairs 13 During the 2016 Senate election in Florida he ran for the seat held by Marco Rubio who abstained from running from reelection due to his presidential campaign Following Rubio s withdrawal and subsequent reelection campaign DeSantis dropped out of the race 14 In January 2018 DeSantis filed to run for governor of Florida in the state s gubernatorial election to succeed Republican incumbent Rick Scott 15 Supported by then president Donald Trump 16 DeSantis won the Republican primary in August and resigned from Congress in September 17 DeSantis and his running mate Jeanette Nunez were confirmed the winners following a statewide recount that led to Democratic gubernatorial nominee Andrew Gillum conceding 18 DeSantis signaled his intent to run in the 2022 gubernatorial election in September 2021 launching his reelection bid in November 19 In a landslide victory 20 21 he defeated Democratic nominee Charlie Crist the governor of Florida from 2007 to 2011 22 nbsp Ron DeSantis s congressional portrait 2013DeSantis s tenure as the governor of Florida has seen several major developments The COVID 19 pandemic in Florida began in March 2020 subverting scientific consensus DeSantis downplayed the effectiveness of face masks against COVID 19 and attempted to reopen Florida while following Trump s advice 23 He appointed Joseph Ladapo a noted COVID 19 vaccine skeptic and a signee of the Great Barrington Declaration as Florida s surgeon general in September 2021 24 25 while fining local governments for enforcing vaccine mandates 26 DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act in March 2022 prohibiting public schools in Florida from discussing or having classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade and beginning a feud with the The Walt Disney Company 27 In April 2023 Disney sued DeSantis 28 DeSantis signed a six week abortion ban while supporting limited government and taking a hard stance on crime 29 He downplayed running for president in August 2020 calling the speculation around a potential bid total garbage 30 Pre candidacy developments editEarly speculation edit By January 2021 DeSantis had been a potential candidate in the 2024 presidential election He was invited to the Republican National Committee s January meeting in Amelia Island despite supporting then president Donald Trump at the time 31 DeSantis s response to the COVID 19 pandemic in Florida ascended him further within the Republican Party Josh Holmes an advisor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that DeSantis was having a moment with conservatives 32 In October 2022 former Florida governor Jeb Bush praised DeSantis as a potential 2024 candidate and in February 2023 repeated his hopes that DeSantis would run 33 while reserving he was praising not endorsing DeSantis 34 A Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC straw poll saw DeSantis second only to Trump and the only other Republican to receive double digit polling numbers in the poll 35 In May DeSantis spoke to the Republican Party in Allegheny County Pennsylvania further fueling speculation of a potential bid as some Democrats began seeking to mount a campaign against him 36 37 Despite various endorsements he publicly opposed a presidential bid saying that the discussion over his candidacy was purely manufactured in a press conference in September 2021 38 State straw polls suggested a strong connection with college educated voters within the Republican Party and narrow victories against Trump 39 In conservative media DeSantis was frequently featured and developed a mutual relationship In an email obtained by the Tampa Bay Times a Fox News producer said that he could host Fox amp Friends DeSantis forged alliances with conservative pundits hosting political commentator Dave Rubin and Newsmax reporter Benny Johnson to the Governor s Mansion in January 2022 40 In The American Conservative and the National Review he was lauded as a strong alternative to Trump 41 As the New York Post and The Wall Street Journal owned by Rupert Murdoch s News Corp began to appear critical of Trump for the January 6 Capitol attack 42 Murdoch s Fox News began shifting coverage to DeSantis and worked with his team to portray him in a positive light 43 The New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman s book Confidence Man The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America 2022 states Murdoch was willing to throw Trump over following his loss in the 2020 presidential election 44 The New York Post ran the headline DeFuture after DeSantis was reelected while The Wall Street Journal proclaimed it the DeSantis Florida tsunami 45 DeSantis s speculative campaign was targeted by conspiracy theorists particularly followers of QAnon In February 2023 Hungarian American businessman George Soros expressed his hope that DeSantis would defeat Trump for the Republican nomination although he qualified this as a hope that such an outcome would result in Trump running as a third party candidate and splitting the Republican vote rather than a DeSantis presidency and therefore was not an endorsement 46 Opponents of DeSantis later seized upon this putting forward conspiracy theories that DeSantis was a tool of the Deep State with more than 12 000 mentions of DeSoros on social media and news sites from January to May 2023 Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake falsely claimed that Soros had endorsed DeSantis which she referred to as the kiss of death 47 As speculation continued Trump mounted attacks against DeSantis referring to him as Ron DeSanctimonious at a rally in Pennsylvania in November 2022 in advance for a presidential campaign 48 The New York Times reported that Trump has casually used the nickname Meatball Ron 49 DeSantis is Italian American 50 Several days after the article was published Trump said on Truth Social that he will never call Ron DeSanctimonious Meatball Ron and that it is totally inappropriate 51 Preparing for a run edit nbsp DeSantis s international visits were considered to improve his credentials on foreign policyIn February 2023 DeSantis released The Courage to Be Free a memoir overviewing his political beliefs and subsequently embarked on a book tour in the early voting states of Iowa 52 New Hampshire 53 Nevada 54 and South Carolina 55 among other states Despite teasing a potential presidential bid 56 DeSantis stated that the tour was intended to advocate for his record as the governor of Florida rather than Trump 57 In April he visited Japan South Korea Israel and the United Kingdom in a move considered to improve his credentials on foreign policy 58 DeSantis was criticized for an apparent lackluster performance over the course of the trip 59 According to The Guardian DeSantis began assembling senior staff on February 27 60 The Florida Legislature passed an elections bill in April that removes the requirement that DeSantis must resign as the governor of Florida if he launches a presidential campaign 61 The bill was signed into law by DeSantis hours before he was expected to announce his candidacy 62 At the end of the Florida legislature session on May 12 DeSantis told reporters that he ll put up or shut up on a campaign announcement soon 63 A person affiliated with DeSantis s campaign told The Hill on May 19 that DeSantis would file paperwork with the Federal Election Commission the following week 64 and DeSantis s Twitter handle was changed from RonDeSantisFL to RonDeSantis on May 23 65 Ahead of a potential presidential bid reports of DeSantis s aloof personality began to form In the most notable of these instances The Daily Beast reported in March 2023 that during a private plane trip in March 2019 from Tallahassee to Washington D C DeSantis ate a chocolate pudding dessert using three fingers according to two sources A former staffer told the publication that DeSantis would eat like a starving animal who has never eaten before as part of a section about his tenuous social skills Although he denied the incident it quickly garnered press attention 66 67 A political action committee PAC aligned with Trump ran a political message in April titled Pudding Fingers and featuring claims DeSantis had made across a backdrop of a man eating pudding with three fingers 68 Speaking to NBC News multiple Republican colleagues said that DeSantis was a loner who was often seen on his cellphone 69 The New York Times reported that DeSantis used bike racks to separate himself from the crowd during his visit to Iowa 70 A video of DeSantis laughing went viral and drew comparison to the Dean scream a political gaffe in Howard Dean s 2004 presidential campaign 71 Prior to the campaign announcement allies of DeSantis established a political action committee known as Friends of Ron DeSantis Although the PAC raised US 86 million its funds cannot be transferred to Ron DeSantis for President because they were raised under looser laws On May 15 Friends of Ron DeSantis filed paperwork with the Florida Division of Elections changing its name to Empower Parents and devoted its new mission to protecting parental rights in education in an apparent effort to distribute the funds and circumvent federal law The watchdog group Campaign Legal Center has stated that it will file a complaint with the Federal Election Commission if the funds are transferred Empower Parents may transfer its funds to Never Back Down a federal super PAC that has raised US 30 million 72 Never Back Down has run ads in key early voting states that directly target Trump 73 and expects to have a budget of US 200 million The PAC intends to transfer US 80 million from one of DeSantis s political accounts 74 Although the transfer would have been prevented under state law the Florida Department of State changed its handbook to allow such a transfer citing Citizens United v FEC 2010 75 Campaign editAnnouncement edit nbsp Ron DeSantis nbsp Twitter RonDeSantis I m running for president to lead our Great American Comeback May 24 2023 76 77 On May 23 2023 a campaign insider revealed plans to the Associated Press for DeSantis to announce his candidacy on Twitter Spaces with Twitter CEO Elon Musk at 6 00 p m EDT the following day after meeting with donors at the Four Seasons Hotel Miami 78 Musk then officially announced the live conversation 79 Hours before the discussion took place DeSantis officially filed with the Federal Election Commission FEC 80 DeSantis tweeted a launch video minutes before the Twitter Space began 81 During the call which attracted over 600 000 Twitter users 82 technical issues severely affected the announcement as DeSantis was unable to speak for 20 minutes The Twitter Space was restarted but lost a significant number of listeners 83 The conversation was moderated by David Sacks a confidant of Musk s during his acquisition of Twitter and a Republican donor who praised DeSantis and gave him US 50 000 84 Following the meeting DeSantis appeared on Fox News Tonight and spoke to former Republican congressman Trey Gowdy joking about the technical issues 85 Protesters gathered at the Four Seasons hotel prior to the DeSantis announcement 86 Although Sacks claimed that the event was the biggest room ever held on social media BuzzFeed s Facebook Live livestream of an exploding watermelon stunt and a livestream of April a then pregnant giraffe at the Animal Adventure Park in Harpursville New York exceeded it in viewership An estimated 3 4 million people listened to the interview or a recording of it according to Twitter 87 Following the announcement DeSantis appeared on a variety of conservative media including Erick Erickson s Erick Erickson Show and The Clay Travis and Buck Sexton Show suggesting that he would pardon Trump if convicted as well as participants of the January 6 Capitol attack 88 On The Ben Shapiro Show he pledged to repeal the First Step Act signed by Trump in 2018 at the behest of his son in law Jared Kushner These appearances have antagonized Trump in his interview with Shapiro DeSantis criticized Trump for his response to the COVID 19 pandemic 89 The technical issues experienced during the Twitter Space overshadowed DeSantis s message President Joe Biden who is running for reelection tweeted This link works followed by a link to his own campaign donation Trump wrote on Truth Social that DeSantis s collar was too big in his launch video 90 he later released a satirical video of a fake Twitter Spaces event with figures such as George Soros Klaus Schwab Adolf Hitler and the Devil in attendance 91 Trump followed the video up with another video of a rocket labeled Ron 2024 referencing Jeb Bush s 2016 presidential campaign logo falling over Both videos appear to be generated by artificial intelligence 92 Florida representative Matt Gaetz a prominent Trump ally tweeted DeSedative 93 Conservative media quickly used the technical issues to lampoon DeSantis National Review editor Philip Klein called it a disaster 94 as did Fox News 95 The Daily Mail ran the headline Ron s Desaster a term that became a trending hashtag on Twitter 96 while Breitbart News called it a DeBacle for DeSantis 97 Conversely conservative commentator Ben Shapiro wrote that those concerned about the optics of the Twitter Spaces glitch are unlikely to vote for DeSantis 95 Musk positioned the discussion as a success pointing to media coverage of its failure 98 DeSantis s campaign later released a statement clarifying that the issues experienced during the Twitter Space were due to an influx of people listening to the audio discussion at once campaign spokesperson Dave Abrams called it Internet breaking excitement 99 According to The New York Times employees had not run a stress test beforehand 100 The Tampa Bay Times attributed the lack of a response from late night talk show hosts such as Stephen Colbert and John Oliver to the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike 101 Initial stages and opposition edit On May 30 DeSantis held his first in person event at Eternity Church in Clive Iowa in a decision considered by the Associated Press to strengthen his connection with evangelical Christian voters He subsequently appeared in other cities across Iowa including Sioux City Council Bluffs Pella and concluding his visit in Cedar Rapids 102 In a Fox amp Friends interview DeSantis called Iowa very important and drew parallels to the six week abortion ban he signed into law with Iowa s The event is part of a tri state tour billed the Great American Comeback Tour 88 in which he will visit twelve cities in the United States including those in the key early voting states of New Hampshire and South Carolina 103 During his visit to New Hampshire DeSantis sparred with an Associated Press reporter in Laconia asking him Are you blind The incident attracted media attention Never Back Down framed it as an instance of him shutting down fake news 104 In Manchester DeSantis was met by reproductive rights protesters 105 On June 7 DeSantis visited the Mexico United States border in Arizona meeting Cochise County sheriff Mark Dannels 106 Simultaneously he began a US 100 million door knocking effort The DeSantis campaign has established a boot camp referred to by allies as Fort Benning to encourage canvassing efforts 107 DeSantis fielded questions at a town hall event in New Hampshire on June 27 108 In a pluvial event DeSantis marched in an Independence Day parade in New Hampshire 109 DeSantis s wife Casey DeSantis announced she would launch a grassroots group called Mamas for DeSantis with Iowa governor Kim Reynolds days after DeSantis and Trump crossed paths at a Moms for Liberty convention 110 111 In a subsequent video she called for mothers to mobilize to protect the innocence of our children and to protect the rights of parents 112 DeSantis made her first independent appearance on July 6 with Reynolds Through her words both privately and publicly Reynolds has created an environment that has favored DeSantis drawing ire from Trump 113 Trump attacked Reynolds and will skip out on a gathering in Des Moines Iowa for The Family Leader hosted by politician Bob Vander Plaats to which DeSantis came to her defense 114 and indirectly told him Nobody is entitled to this nomination on The Howie Carr Show 115 This is a war of a certain kind and what you do is generally speaking the person that s in second place you go after that person as opposed to the person in eighth or ninth place Trump explaining his feud with DeSantis 116 The Trump campaign has sought to directly attack DeSantis with the two campaigns often employing imagery generated by artificial intelligence AI or other synthetic media Days after DeSantis announced his candidacy prominent Trump allies such as his son Donald Trump Jr shared a scene of The Office episode The Negotiation with DeSantis s face digitally imposed onto Michael Scott s face the scene involved a meeting with Scott and Darryl Philbin in which Scott wears a women s suit and is called out for it Shortly thereafter the DeSantis campaign used a sequence of images featuring Trump with former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director Anthony Fauci in a campaign commercial While some of the images are real the DeSantis campaign interspersed the sequence with AI generated images of Trump kissing and hugging Fauci as first noted by Agence France Presse 117 Congresspersons and Trump allies J D Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized the advertisement with Greene asking for its removal Rapid response director Christina Pushaw posted an AI generated image of DeSantis riding a rhinoceros referencing the pejorative term Republican in Name Only RINO 118 Despite remaining allies during the COVID 19 pandemic Trump and DeSantis have disagreed with each other s handling of the pandemic Trump has released advertisements with DeSantis dubbed Lockdown Ron issuing stay at home orders 119 The two men s feud has extended into Never Back Down mockingly following Trump in a bus 120 In a series of Truth Social posts he claimed that DeSantis is attempting to get out of the 2024 presidential election 121 Trump launched a Farmers for Trump coalition in June criticizing DeSantis s stance on the Renewable Fuel Standard and questioning his support for the agricultural industry particularly in Iowa 122 DeSantis has also faced opposition from Rupert Murdoch s media outlets Fox News s Will Cain and Maria Bartiromo questioned DeSantis on the vitality of his campaign while The Wall Street Journal criticized him for an immigration bill he signed in May and the New York Post has covered his campaign struggles 123 During Pride Month his campaign shared an ad described as both homophobic and homoerotic 124 which criticized Trump for his supportive comments toward LGBT rights during the 2016 presidential campaign The DeSantis ad contrasts Trump s comments with news headlines about DeSantis anti LGBT policies interwoven with a jarring series of clips including a heavily muscled man known as Gigachad images of DeSantis shooting lasers out of his eyes obscure right wing memes and movie clips of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho Jordan Belfort in The Wolf of Wall Street and Achilles in Troy who is often depicted as a gay man in Ancient Greek literature 125 126 The video was criticized by many Democrats and Republicans 125 127 128 129 In response DeSantis doubled down on his criticism of Trump as a pioneer in injecting gender ideology into the mainstream 130 The video was removed from Twitter on July 7 for copyright violations 126 According to The New York Times the video was produced by a DeSantis staffer and handed off to a supporter to make the ad appear independent of the campaign 124 First campaign reset edit In July two senior advisors left the DeSantis campaign to work on an outside campaign effort 131 Amid financial issues the campaign let go fewer than ten aides involved in event planning according to Politico leaving the campaign with at least 90 employees Never Back Down has received resumes from the laid off staffers 132 In a perceived slight towards Trump s comments at a Dairy Queen in Council Bluffs Iowa in which he asked what a Blizzard was DeSantis visited a Dairy Queen and ordered a Blizzard 133 He did not appear at the Turning Point Action Conference that month in contrast with Trump who dismissed his candidacy and seized on his absence Campaign press secretary Bryan Griffin stated that DeSantis was instead in Iowa and spoke at the Tennessee Republican Party Statesman s Dinner According to organizers he declined to speak at the conference Other speakers at the event such as representatives Matt Gaetz Byron Donalds and Anna Paulina Luna supported Trump 134 At a fundraising event in Ankeny Iowa DeSantis told reporters that he would consider Kim Reynolds as a potential vice president if he wins the Republican nomination 135 He is scaling back his travel schedule to prioritize early voting states and focusing on media interviews including an interview with CNN s Jake Tapper on The Lead with Jake Tapper marking the first time he has appeared on a non conservative outlet 136 Griffin told the New York Post that the DeSantis campaign prioritizes fundraising over media attention chiding mainstream media 137 The campaign s acceptance of the mainstream media is a departure from the isolationist strategy seen in the days following DeSantis s announcement that was once described as a safe space by Axios 138 DeSantis became the first major candidate to file in South Carolina but that day his campaign events in Tega Cay and West Columbia were overshadowed by news that Jack Smith was advancing the investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack by naming Trump as a target 139 That month Never Back Down ran a political advertisement that while using a post written by him on Truth Social used an audio deepfake of Trump as part of an Iowa advertisement buy worth at least US 1 million 140 Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita criticized the use of artificial intelligence in the advertisement 141 According to NBC News DeSantis will run as an insurgent rather than an incumbent governor and will lean less into his governorship as a whole 142 He appeared at the Utah State Capitol with Utah governor Spencer Cox where he appealed to the state s evangelical base 143 Later that month Politico reported that DeSantis had cut his campaign staff by a third or the jobs of 38 aides signaling a need to rein in funding 144 On the same day he was involved in a car crash at approximately 8 15 a m in Chattanooga Tennessee that lightly injured one aide and on the same day as a donor retreat in Park City Utah 145 A pro DeSantis Twitter account received criticism for posting a video that depicted a Sonnenrad a symbol used by neo Nazis in the video s background The video was retweeted by a DeSantis campaign staffer but was eventually deleted after massive criticism and backlash 146 The video creator and its retweeter was revealed to be former National Review writer and campaign speechwriter Nate Hochman who was subsequently fired 147 It was later revealed that the DeSantis campaign was directly involved in the creation of this and similar meme videos after chat logs from a campaign war room were revealed by Semafor 148 149 On August 8 DeSantis replaced campaign manager Generra Peck with James Uthmeier Peck became the chief strategist 150 Second campaign reset edit DeSantis reset his campaign for a second time on August 11 151 In October DeSantis campaign announced that they were moving roughly a third of their staff members to Iowa DeSantis also began a plan to visit all 99 Iowan counties 152 He completed this tour in early December a few weeks before the 2024 caucuses in the state 153 During the tour Iowa governor Kim Reynolds broke her previous neutrality between Trump and DeSantis and endorsed DeSantis at a rally in November 154 Also in November DeSantis had a debate with California governor Gavin Newsom who is not running for president 155 Financials editFundraising edit The DeSantis campaign announced that DeSantis raised a total of US 8 2 million from online donations and donations made at the Four Seasons Miami outpacing Trump who had raised US 9 5 million in the six weeks after he announced his campaign 156 His campaign is also supported by Bigelow Aerospace founder Robert Bigelow whose US 20 million donation to Never Back Down is one of the largest of a single donor in a presidential primary 157 In a USA Today interview donors expressed indifference for DeSantis s declining poll numbers comparing it to a marathon 158 The donor network of Charles Koch one of the biggest spenders in American politics 159 considered supporting DeSantis but early campaign stumbles have worried Koch 160 Never Back Down raised an unprecedented US 500 000 through the Draft DeSantis 2024 Fund in the days following DeSantis s announcement 161 By July 6 the DeSantis campaign had raised US 20 million while Never Back Down touted that it had raised US 130 million 5 According to a campaign finance disclosure that month a majority of the money earned by the campaign came from donors who gave the legal maximum suggesting solvency issues 162 To reach these donors DeSantis used private planes cutting into his funding 163 The report shows funding slowed down after he announced his candidacy 164 In fundraising emails DeSantis has focused on culture war issues such as transgender men getting pregnant with his emails mentioning woke more than any other Republican candidate 165 Seeking to contrast him with Trump the DeSantis campaign has sought to avoid the beseeching undertone present in many of Trump s fundraising emails DeSantis s campaign website promises to avoid smoke and mirrors and unrealistic donation matching promises His advisors have argued that transparency with donors could effectively counter the advantage Democratic candidates have had with ActBlue an online fundraising software while its Republican alternative WinRed was created 15 years later Never Back Down chief operating officer Kristin Davison stated that a challenge for Republicans is building out the small dollar universe DeSantis s approach has been tried by senator Bernie Sanders who utilized grassroots donors in his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns 166 Despite this he has siphoned off former Trump donors earning more than twice as much from former donors than Nikki Haley nearly half of all total donations came from precincts that supported Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 167 Never Back Down has taken aggressive measures to attract door knockers in a mass national canvassing measure By July 2023 the organization had an estimated 350 to 400 canvassers according to Davison The PAC s canvassing efforts contrast with traditional presidential field organizing efforts which typically use volunteers Never Back Down tracks canvassers through an app and must write down their interactions with voters Although door knockers are reportedly trained and vetted The Washington Post obtained several videos from Ring doorbells In one video a cannabis intoxicated canvasser used lewd remarks leading to his firing Virginia representative Barbara Comstock spoke critically of this practice stating that campaigns want volunteers who are local and well versed in the politics of the state Door knockers are trained at a facility in west Des Moines Iowa known as Fort Benning where they are coached to avoid reporters and Trump supporters and respect no trespassing signs but not no soliciting signs They are managed by subcontractors including Vanguard Field Strategies a subsidiary of Axiom Strategies whose founder Jeff Roe is the chief strategist for Never Back Down 168 In August 2023 financial filings revealed that Never Back Down had US 97 million in cash on hand and spent US 34 million 169 The filings show a reliance on wealthy donors including Bigelow 170 On November 27 2023 it was revealed that DeSantis had spent the most out of any candidate on advertisements surpassing both Donald Trump and Joe Biden with 249 1 million amounting to 497 unique ads of which 84 23 million was spent in Iowa and 47 61 million was spent in New Hampshire 171 Legality edit In May 2023 NBC News reported that staff for the DeSantis administration sent text messages soliciting donations from Florida lobbyists a potentially legally strenuous maneuver 172 During a campaign effort in the border city of Eagle Pass Texas DeSantis shared a photo op of himself posing in front of a helicopter on Twitter 173 Although the photo was intended to boost his campaign DeSantis received criticism when The Daily Beast stated that the helicopter was taxpayer funded The publication also noted that DeSantis took a tour of the Rio Grande on a boat owned by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as part of Operation Lone Star accompanied by a Fox News reporter The New York Times confirmed the boat s status The Federal Election Commission requires candidates to reimburse government entities when using aircraft given to them 174 In July NBC News obtained a confidential campaign memo intended to quell donor concerns the memo shows that DeSantis is focusing on early voting states and that he views only former President Donald Trump as a significant threat 175 Polling editMain articles Nationwide opinion polling for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries and Statewide opinion polling for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries Although DeSantis initially faced competitive support to Trump according to aggregate FiveThirtyEight polls the margin between Trump and DeSantis increased from January 2023 to May 2023 According to the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute between May 18 to 22 DeSantis attracted 25 of Republican voters compared to Trump s 56 hold 176 FiveThirtyEight s Geoffrey Skelley noted Trump s rise in the time between November 2022 when he declared his candidacy and May 2023 In that time Trump was able to attack DeSantis for following many of the beliefs established by the Freedom Caucus which he co founded Trump convinced many Florida congressional Republicans to back him and garnered endorsements and his indictment bolstered his ratings 177 In April 2023 DeSantis signed a six week abortion ban which led Republican megadonors to worry that he had shifted too far to the right 178 In spite of this DeSantis has gained a following among suburban mothers 179 Trump s presence in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries and his core followers as well as an increasing field have presented challenges for the DeSantis campaign Ryan Tyson a senior advisor to DeSantis said that the campaign seeks to accrue voters who will neither vote exclusively for Trump nor identify with the Never Trump movement According to Tyson additional entrants split up the Never Trump electorate Other candidates such as Nikki Haley and Vivek Ramaswamy have focused on attacking DeSantis rather than Trump Ramaswamy dined with Trump and his son in law Jared Kushner a close friend of Ramaswamy at Trump s property in Bedminster New Jersey in 2021 180 Following Trump s second indictment DeSantis fell nine percent in the RealClearPolitics national average 181 Former Trump advisor and Never Back Down spokesperson Steve Cortes called Trump the runaway frontrunner and admitted to being way behind 182 183 See also editList of Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign primary endorsementsReferences editCitations edit Glueck Katie May 24 2023 Florida s first lady and second in command The New York Times Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Nehamas Nicholas Goldmacher Shane Haberman Maggie August 8 2023 DeSantis Replaces Campaign Manager in Major Shake Up The New York Times Retrieved August 8 2023 Swan Jonathan Haberman Maggie March 30 2023 DeSantis Reunites With a Key Adviser as Campaign Plans Unfold The New York Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Ceballos Ana May 16 2023 DeSantis political operation makes more moves ahead of expected 2024 campaign launch Miami Herald Archived from the original on May 20 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 a b Greenwood Max July 6 2023 DeSantis raises 20M in first 6 weeks of 2024 bid campaign says Tampa Bay Times Retrieved July 6 2023 Singh Maanvi Stein Chris Lawther Fran May 25 2023 Ron DeSantis doubles down on rightwing agenda in glitchy Twitter campaign launch as it happened The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved June 14 2023 Peoples Steve Fingerhut Hannah Beaumont Thomas May 30 2023 DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa vows to fight back against Trump AP Retrieved June 14 2023 Hess Dana May 24 2023 Noem DeSantis and pugnacity as a political strategy South Dakota Searchlight Retrieved June 14 2023 Knowles Hannah Mourtoupalas Nick Blanco Adrian July 8 2023 The words GOP presidential hopefuls use to stand out in a crowded field The Washington Post Retrieved July 8 2023 Taggart Frankie May 23 2023 Ron DeSantis Trump Without The Chaos Barron s Retrieved May 24 2023 Florida Election Results 2014 The New York Times December 17 2014 Archived from the original on May 16 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Florida U S House 6th District Results Ron DeSantis Wins The New York Times August 1 2017 Archived from the original on November 26 2022 Retrieved May 24 2023 Kristian Bonnie January 9 2023 Ron DeSantis Could Decide Republicans Foreign Policy The New York Times Archived from the original on May 4 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Dixon Matt June 22 2016 Rubio decision instantly reshapes Florida races Politico Archived from the original on May 8 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Mower Lawrence January 5 2018 Rep Ron DeSantis declares run for Florida governor Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on June 28 2022 Retrieved May 24 2023 Farrington Brendan January 5 2018 Trump s tweeted choice for Florida governor enters the race Associated Press Archived from the original on November 7 2020 Retrieved May 24 2023 Moe Alex Shabad Rebecca Vitali Ali September 10 2018 Amid heated governor s race Ron DeSantis resigns from Congress NBC News Archived from the original on May 3 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Merica Dan Tatum Sophie November 17 2018 Andrew Gillum concedes Florida governor s race to Ron DeSantis CNN Archived from the original on March 9 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Contorno Steve November 8 2021 Florida Gov DeSantis officially launches 2022 reelection bid CNN Archived from the original on November 8 2021 Retrieved May 24 2023 Martin Jonathan May 12 2023 Why the DeSantis Braintrust Thinks It Can Actually Beat Trump Politico Archived from the original on May 22 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Tawfik Nada November 11 2022 Ron DeSantis How the Republican governor conquered Florida BBC News Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Mahoney Emily Peace Lauren November 8 2022 DeSantis wins second term as Florida governor beating Crist in landslide Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on April 28 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Wootson Jr Cleve Stanley Becker Isaac Rozsa Lori Dawsey Josh July 25 2020 Coronavirus ravaged Florida as Ron DeSantis sidelined scientists and followed Trump The Washington Post Archived from the original on March 11 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Sarkissian Arek September 29 2021 How a doctor who questioned vaccine safety became DeSantis surgeon general pick Politico Archived from the original on November 7 2021 Retrieved May 24 2023 Wilson Kirby September 22 2021 4 times Florida s new surgeon general bucked the coronavirus consensus Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on January 17 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Weixel Nathaniel September 13 2021 DeSantis Local governments will face 5K fines for imposing vaccine mandates The Hill Archived from the original on January 31 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Diaz Jaclyn March 28 2022 Florida s governor signs controversial law opponents dubbed Don t Say Gay NPR Archived from the original on April 26 2023 Retrieved April 26 2023 Barnes Brooks April 26 2023 Disney Sues DeSantis Over Control of Its Florida Resort The New York Times Archived from the original on April 26 2023 Retrieved April 26 2023 Swan Jonathan Haberman Maggie Nehamas Nicholas May 25 2023 The Policy Fights Where DeSantis Sees His Chance to Hit Trump The New York Times Retrieved May 27 2023 Fineout Gary August 11 2020 DeSantis squelches talk of a White House run Politico Archived from the original on October 1 2020 Retrieved May 24 2023 Bucchino Rachel January 6 2021 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for President in 2024 The National Interest Archived from the original on September 30 2022 Retrieved May 24 2023 Caputo Marc February 16 2021 Covid wars launch DeSantis into GOP top tier Politico Archived from the original on April 10 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Vakil Caroline February 27 2023 Jeb Bush hopeful DeSantis will run for president Archived from the original on May 10 2023 Retrieved May 25 2023 Fineout Gary February 28 2023 Jeb Bush I was praising not endorsing DeSantis Politico Archived from the original on March 30 2023 Retrieved May 25 2023 Plott Elaina Goldmacher Shane February 28 2021 Trump Wins CPAC Straw Poll but Only 68 Percent Want Him to Run Again The New York Times Archived from the original on October 23 2021 Retrieved May 24 2023 Tamari Jonathan April 23 2021 Ron DeSantis is coming to Pennsylvania as his stock rises in a post Trump GOP Philadelphia Inquirer Archived from the original on May 16 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Merica Dan May 8 2021 Ron DeSantis is on a path to 2024 Democrats hope to head him off CNN Archived from the original on May 8 2021 Retrieved May 8 2021 Levin Jonathan September 7 2021 DeSantis Says Talk of Presidential Run Is Purely Manufactured Bloomberg News Archived from the original on April 28 2022 Retrieved May 24 2023 Hart Benjamin July 19 2022 Trump Is Losing Ground to DeSantis in Poll After Poll New York Archived from the original on March 7 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Flegenheimer Matt September 13 2022 Is Ron DeSantis the Future of the Republican Party The New York Times Magazine Retrieved May 25 2023 Ecarma Caleb September 13 2022 As 2024 Looms Ron DeSantis Has Every Corner of the Conservative Media Fawning Vanity Fair Retrieved May 25 2023 Rissman Kelly July 24 2022 Even Rupert Murdoch Appears to Be Over Trump as a Younger Generation Eyes 2024 Vanity Fair Retrieved May 25 2023 Contorno Steve August 13 2021 Inside Fox News DeSantis is the future of the party And he s taking advantage Tampa Bay Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Haberman 2022 p 648 Darcy Oliver November 9 2022 It is not an accident Murdoch s media empire celebrates DeSantis as future of GOP after midterms CNN Retrieved May 25 2023 Goldin Melissa February 22 2023 Soros did not endorse DeSantis in 2024 presidential race Associated Press Archived from the original on March 24 2023 Retrieved May 21 2023 Thompson Stuart May 5 2023 Ron DeSoros Conspiracy Theorists Target Trump s Rival The New York Times Archived from the original on May 18 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Dixon Matt November 11 2022 Trump goes to war against DeSantis Politico Archived from the original on December 1 2022 Retrieved May 24 2023 Bender Michael Haberman Maggie February 12 2023 DeSantis s Challenge When and How to Counterattack Trump The New York Times Archived from the original on May 22 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Mathis Lilley Ben February 17 2023 Ron DeSantis Must Embrace and Weaponize the Nickname Meatball Ron Slate Archived from the original on May 22 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Frazier Kierra February 18 2023 Trump I won t call DeSantis Meatball Ron Politico Archived from the original on May 23 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Bender Michael March 10 2023 A Glimpse of DeSantis in Iowa Awkward but Still Winning the Crowd The New York Times Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Tran Ken April 14 2023 DeSantis makes first visit to New Hampshire teasing 2024 presidential run I have only begun to fight USA Today Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Calderon Jannelle March 11 2023 In visit to early state Nevada DeSantis touts self as leader willing to go on offense The Nevada Independent Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Cridlin Jay April 20 2023 DeSantis tour hits South Carolina Here s what GOP voters thought Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on May 19 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Beaumont Thomas March 2 2023 DeSantis Trump set to visit Iowa ramping up 2024 moves Associated Press Archived from the original on March 23 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Jackson David March 5 2023 2024 preview Ron DeSantis does a book tour to discuss his Florida record not Donald Trump USA Today Archived from the original on April 15 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Weisman Jonathan Kingsley Patrick Nehamas Nicholas April 27 2023 After Stumbles at Home DeSantis Heads Abroad to Find His Footing The New York Times Archived from the original on May 11 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Flynn Sheila April 29 2023 Ron DeSantis critics gloat over brutal reviews of his UK trip The Independent Archived from the original on May 15 2023 Retrieved May 19 2023 Lowell Hugo April 27 2023 DeSantis assembles senior staff for expected 2024 presidential campaign The Guardian Archived from the original on May 18 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Nehamas Nicholas Mazzei Patricia April 28 2023 Florida Lawmakers Clear a Potential Presidential Roadblock for DeSantis The New York Times Archived from the original on May 11 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Dixon Matt May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis signs law clearing the path for his presidential run NBC News Retrieved May 24 2023 Jackson David May 12 2023 Put up or shut up Florida Gov Ron DeSantis gets ready to decide 2024 presidential plans USA Today Retrieved May 27 2023 Greenwood Max May 19 2023 DeSantis poised to enter 2024 race ending months of anticipation The Hill Retrieved May 25 2023 Sforza Lauren May 23 2023 DeSantis changes Twitter handle ahead of rumored 2024 announcement The Hill Retrieved May 25 2023 Ibrahim Nur March 24 2023 DeSantis I Don t Remember Eating Pudding with 3 Fingers Snopes Retrieved May 29 2023 Hartmann Margaret March 23 2022 Ron DeSantis Eating Pudding With His Fingers Will End His 2024 Bid Intelligencer Retrieved May 29 2023 Mack David April 14 2023 If You Wondered How Ron DeSantis Looks Eating Pudding With His Fingers Well The Answer Is Here BuzzFeed News Retrieved May 29 2023 Wong Scott March 15 2023 House Republicans say DeSantis had no friends in Congress Now many want him to run for president NBC News Retrieved May 29 2023 Kilander Gustaf Baio Ariana March 25 2023 The truth behind the bizarre Ron DeSantis pudding fingers claim seized on by Trump The Independent Retrieved May 29 2023 Shroff Kaivan May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis laughed like a maniac with Iowa voters It matters more than you think WBUR Retrieved June 28 2023 Astor Maggie May 24 2023 DeSantis allies have 86 million in a state committee Its fate is unclear The New York Times Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Bender Michael April 17 2023 Trump and DeSantis Super PACs Duel in TV Ads The New York Times Retrieved May 26 2023 Goldmacher Shane Swan Jonathan Haberman Maggie May 24 2023 DeSantis Allies 200 Million Plan for Beating Trump The New York Times Retrieved May 26 2023 Dixon Matt May 30 2023 Florida elections officials quietly made it easier for Ron DeSantis to fund his 2024 bid NBC News Retrieved June 17 2023 Spangler Todd May 24 2023 Twitter Crashes Disrupt Ron DeSantis Official 2024 Presidential Run Announcement in Glitchy Live Chat With Elon Musk Variety Retrieved May 24 2023 Camdessus Camille May 31 2023 Republican DeSantis Begins Presidential Bid In Trump s Shadow Barron s Retrieved June 14 2023 Peoples Steve May 24 2023 DeSantis plans to announce 2024 bid Wednesday on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk sources tell AP Associated Press Archived from the original on May 23 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Mac Ryan May 24 2023 DeSantis Picked Twitter Spaces to Announce His Run What Is It The New York Times Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Nehamas Nicholas May 24 2023 The campaign s embrace of Twitter didn t start well The New York Times Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Ingram David Dixon Matt May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis presidential campaign launch melts down in Twitter glitches NBC News Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Kelly Makana May 24 2023 Elon Musk fails to launch Ron DeSantis in disastrous Twitter Space The Verge Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Knowles Hannah May 24 2023 DeSantis 2024 kickoff on Twitter plagued by technical issues The Washington Post Archived from the original on May 25 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Victor Daniel May 24 2023 Who is David Sacks A fitting bridge between DeSantis and Musk The New York Times Archived from the original on May 24 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Stanage Niall May 24 2023 Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis s glitch ridden campaign launch The Hill Archived from the original on May 25 2023 Retrieved May 24 2023 Massie Graeme May 25 2023 Anti DeSantis protesters demonstrate outside Miami hotel amid meeting of governor s donors The Independent Retrieved May 25 2023 Mac Ryan Hsu Tiffany May 25 2023 DeSantis s Twitter Event Falls Short of the Reach of Past Livestreams The New York Times Retrieved May 26 2023 a b Nehamas Nicholas Astor Maggie Blinder Alan May 25 2023 DeSantis Plows Ahead With Whirlwind of Friendly Interviews and a Tour The New York Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Vigdor Neil Haberman Maggie Nehamas Nicholas May 26 2023 DeSantis Steps Up Attacks on Trump Hitting Him on Crime and Covid The New York Times Retrieved May 27 2023 Navarro Aaron Gomez Fin O Keefe Ed Defede Jim May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential launch plagued by technical problems CBS News Retrieved May 24 2023 Epstein Reid J May 25 2023 Trump Biden and Others Troll DeSantis s Twitter Announcement The New York Times Archived from the original on May 25 2023 Retrieved May 25 2023 DeGeurin Mack May 24 2023 Trump Trolls DeSantis and Musk With a Hitler Deepfake Gizmodo Retrieved May 27 2023 Fineout Gary May 25 2023 Day 1 DeSaster DeSedative or DeFuture Politico Retrieved May 26 2023 Goldenberg Sally McGraw Meridith May 24 2023 It turned out to be a mistake Botched rollout puts DeSantis on his heels Politico Retrieved May 25 2023 a b Garofoli Joe May 24 2023 DeSaster Online comments savage Ron DeSantis presidential announcement after tech issues San Francisco Chronicle Retrieved May 26 2023 Glasser Susan May 25 2023 It Was More Than a DeSaster The New Yorker Retrieved May 25 2023 Stanage Niall May 24 2023 Five takeaways from Ron DeSantis s glitch ridden campaign launch The Hill Retrieved May 25 2023 Belanger Ashley May 25 2023 DeSantis Musk event didn t break the Internet but it did break Twitter Ars Technica Retrieved May 27 2023 Ingram David Dixon Matt May 24 2023 Ron DeSantis presidential campaign launch melts down in Twitter glitches NBC News Retrieved May 27 2023 Mac Ryan May 25 2023 Elon Musk s Event With Ron DeSantis Exposes Twitter s Weaknesses The New York Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Cridlin Jay June 23 2023 We re a month into DeSantis presidential campaign How s it going Tampa Bay Times Retrieved June 28 2023 Fingerhut Hannah Beaumont Thomas Peoples Steve May 30 2023 DeSantis kicks off presidential campaign in Iowa as he steps up criticism of Trump Associated Press Retrieved May 30 2023 Nehamas Nicholas May 30 2023 DeSantis Sets Sights on Iowa Hoping It Slingshots Him Past Trump The New York Times Retrieved May 30 2023 Nehamas Nicholas June 1 2023 Ron DeSantis Snaps at a Reporter Are You Blind The New York Times Retrieved June 1 2023 Nehamas Nicholas June 1 2023 In New Hampshire DeSantis Avoids Talking About Florida s Abortion Ban The New York Times Retrieved June 1 2023 Gutierrez Gabe June 7 2023 Ron DeSantis makes a surprise visit to the southern border NBC News Retrieved June 17 2023 Burns Dasha Smith Allan June 16 2023 Inside the 100 million door knocking effort to boost Ron DeSantis NBC News Retrieved June 17 2023 Gomez Henry Allen Jonathan June 27 2023 Ron DeSantis holds first New Hampshire town hall as Trump keeps trolling NBC News Retrieved June 28 2023 Nehamas Nicholas July 5 2023 DeSantis Campaign Continues to Struggle to Find Its Footing The New York Times Retrieved July 6 2023 Manchester Julia July 3 2023 Casey DeSantis to launch Mamas for DeSantis in first solo appearance in Iowa The Hill Retrieved July 3 2023 Huynh Anjali June 30 2023 Trump Crossing Paths With DeSantis Tries to Outflank Him The New York Times Retrieved July 3 2023 Stracqualursi Veronica Maher Kit Holmes Kristen July 7 2023 Casey DeSantis charms Iowa Republicans at first solo campaign trail event CNN Retrieved July 8 2023 Goldmacher Shane Swan Jonathan Haberman Maggie July 8 2023 Trump and DeSantis Are Battling for Iowa Voters And for Its Governor Too The New York Times Retrieved July 8 2023 Goldmacher Shane Haberman Maggie July 11 2023 Trump Is Picking Fights in Iowa No Matter the 2024 Consequences The New York Times Retrieved July 8 2023 Nehamas Nicholas July 12 2023 DeSantis Hits Trump for Skipping Iowa Event and Refusing to Commit to Debate The New York Times Retrieved July 12 2023 Wells Dylan Knowles Hannah Itkowitz Colby June 1 2023 Trump DeSantis in open warfare as they hit the trail in early states The Washington Post Retrieved July 3 2023 McCarthy Bill June 7 2023 Ron DeSantis ad uses AI generated photos of Trump Fauci Agence France Presse Retrieved July 3 2023 Nehamas Nicholas June 8 2023 DeSantis Campaign Uses Apparently Fake Images to Attack Trump on Twitter The New York Times Retrieved July 3 2023 Contorno Steve July 2 2023 Trump and DeSantis once pandemic allies are now gaslighting each other over Covid CNN Retrieved July 3 2023 Goldenberg Sally Isenstadt Alex Allison Natalie Kashinsky Lisa June 1 2023 Trump DeSantis feud gets ugly fast Politico Retrieved July 3 2023 Robertson Nick July 8 2023 Trump claims DeSantis is desperately trying to get out of 2024 race The Hill Retrieved July 8 2023 Lerer Lisa July 7 2023 In Ag Friendly Iowa Trump Goes After DeSantis on Farming Issues The New York Times Retrieved July 8 2023 Nehamas Nicholas Haberman Maggie July 12 2023 DeSantis Confronts a Murdoch Empire No Longer Quite So Supportive The New York Times Retrieved July 12 2023 a b Goldmacher Shane Haberman Maggie July 23 2023 The Sputtering DeSantis Campaign Looks for a Restart The New York Times Retrieved July 25 2023 a b Nehamas Nicholas Haberman Maggie July 1 2023 DeSantis Seeking Attention Uses L G B T Q Issues to Attack Trump The New York Times Retrieved July 3 2023 a b Ward Ian July 8 2023 We Investigated the Deepest Darkest Corners of the Internet to Understand Ron DeSantis Bizarre New Video Politico Retrieved July 8 2023 Lange Jason July 1 2023 Ron DeSantis criticized over homophobic video Reuters Retrieved July 3 2023 Falconer Rebecca July 2 2023 GOP 2024 rivals and Buttigieg slam DeSantis video targeting LGBTQ rights Axios Retrieved July 3 2023 Hirwani Peony July 6 2023 Cillian Murphy responds to homophobic video shared by Ron DeSantis campaign The Independent Retrieved July 6 2023 Sforza Lauren July 5 2023 DeSantis doubles down amid criticism over Trump LGBTQ video The Hill Retrieved July 6 2023 Isenstadt Alex July 14 2023 Two senior DeSantis advisers are leaving to help run outside effort Politico Retrieved July 14 2023 Isenstadt Alex July 15 2023 DeSantis campaign sheds staff amid cash crunch Politico Retrieved July 15 2023 Richards Zoe Hernandez Alec July 14 2023 DeSantis visits Dairy Queen in Iowa after Trump s Blizzard flub NBC News Retrieved July 16 2023 Vigdor Neil July 16 2023 In Florida Trump Says DeSantis Has No Path to Victory The New York Times Retrieved July 16 2023 Concepcion Summer Hernandez Alec July 16 2023 Ron DeSantis says he would consider Iowa Gov Kim Reynolds as his running mate NBC News Retrieved July 16 2023 Cook Nancy July 17 2023 DeSantis Resets 2024 Bid With Six Months Until Voting Starts Bloomberg News Retrieved July 17 2023 Klein Charlotte July 17 2023 Ron DeSantis s Campaign Shakeup Comes With a Media Reset Vanity Fair Retrieved July 17 2023 McCorddick Jack July 9 2023 Ron DeSantis Will Start Giving Interviews To Mainstream Outlets Report Vanity Fair Retrieved July 17 2023 Kinnard Meg Price Michelle July 18 2023 Trump and his legal problems overshadow DeSantis campaigning in South Carolina Associated Press Retrieved July 18 2023 Isenstadt Alex July 17 2023 DeSantis PAC uses AI generated Trump voice in ad attacking ex president Politico Retrieved July 18 2023 1Gomez Fin Bidar Musadiq July 18 2023 Super PAC supporting DeSantis targets Trump in Iowa with ad using AI generated Trump voice CBS News Retrieved July 18 2023 a href Template Cite web html title Template Cite web cite web a CS1 maint numeric names authors list link Burns Dasha July 20 2023 Ron DeSantis is planning a campaign reboot as he struggles to close the gap with Trump NBC News Retrieved July 20 2023 Price Michelle Metz Sam July 20 2023 DeSantis in deeply conservative Utah says he s driven more by faith in God than by politics Associated Press Retrieved July 21 2023 Goldmacher Shane Haberman Maggie Nehamas Nicholas Swan Jonathan July 25 2023 DeSantis Cuts Campaign Staff by a Third in Effort to Rein In Costs The New York Times Retrieved July 25 2023 Nehamas Nicholas July 25 2023 DeSantis Involved in Car Crash in Tennessee He Is Unhurt The New York Times Retrieved July 25 2023 Lemongello Steven July 24 2023 DeSantis campaign mired in controversies over slavery anti gay video alleged Nazi symbol Orlando Sentinel Retrieved July 25 2023 Thompson Alex July 25 2023 DeSantis team fires aide who secretly made video with Nazi symbol Axios Retrieved August 9 2023 Weigel David Talcott Shelby July 31 2023 This belongs in the Smithsonian Inside the meme video operation that swallowed Ron DeSantis campaign Semafor Retrieved August 5 2023 Varkiani Adrienne Mahsa November 2022 Team DeSantis Created That Weird Meme Video with the Giant Nazi Symbol The New Republic Retrieved August 9 2023 Fineout Gary August 8 2023 DeSantis replaces campaign manager in latest shake up Politico Retrieved August 8 2023 Peoples Steve Beaumont Thomas Price Michelle August 11 2023 DeSantis is resetting his campaign again Some Republicans worry his message is getting in the way Associated Press Retrieved November 23 2023 Beaumont Thomas October 4 2023 Ron DeSantis campaign will move more staff to Iowa in his latest bet on the first caucuses Associated Press Retrieved December 2 2023 Associated Press December 2 2023 Ron DeSantis to complete tour of Iowa counties as 2024 state caucuses loom The Guardian Retrieved December 2 2023 Sforza Lauren November 7 2023 Iowa governor officially endorses DeSantis at Des Moines rally The Hill Retrieved November 13 2023 Pengelly Martin November 30 2023 DeSantis v Newsom debate governors clash on crime abortion guns and more The Guardian Retrieved December 2 2023 Goldmacher Shane May 25 2023 DeSantis Campaign Says It Raised 8 2 Million in First 24 Hours The New York Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Kamisar Ben Bland Scott May 26 2023 Gusher of cash reshapes GOP presidential contest NBC News Retrieved May 26 2023 Mansfield Erin Anderson Zac May 4 2023 Ron DeSantis donors know he s struggling They still want him to be president in 2024 USA Today Retrieved May 27 2023 Arnsdorf Isaac February 5 2023 Koch network to back alternative to Trump after sitting out recent primaries The Washington Post Retrieved June 30 2023 Haberman Maggie Swan Jonathan Goldmacher Shane June 29 2023 Koch Network Raises Over 70 Million for Push to Sink Trump The New York Times Retrieved June 30 2023 Navarro Aaron May 27 2023 DeSantis campaign will receive 500K raised by super PAC a source says Campaign finance experts call it unprecedented CBS News Retrieved May 27 2023 Allen Jonathan Bowman Bridget Kamisar Ben Marquez Alexandra July 15 2023 Ron DeSantis campaign finances have some flashing warning signs NBC News Retrieved July 16 2023 Goldmacher Shane Haberman Maggie July 23 2023 A Leaner Meaner DeSantis Campaign Faces a Reboot and a Reckoning The New York Times Retrieved July 23 2023 Schouten Fredreka Stracqualursi Veronica Wright David Leeds Matthews Alex July 15 2023 DeSantis fundraising slowed after initial campaign launch filing shows CNN Retrieved July 16 2023 Piper Jessica June 30 2023 Why Ron DeSantis is emailing his supporters about men getting pregnant Politico Retrieved June 30 2023 Nehamas Nicholas Davis O Brien Rebecca Goldmacher Shane July 11 2023 DeSantis s Striking Risky Strategy Not Trying to Trick Small Donors The New York Times Retrieved July 12 2023 Gillum Jack July 17 2023 Trump Rivals Are Drawing Millions From His 2020 Donors The Wall Street Journal Retrieved July 17 2023 Scherer Michael Dawsey Josh July 14 2023 Door knocker complaints show risks of DeSantis super PAC strategy The Washington Post Retrieved July 14 2023 Haberman Maggie Goldmacher Shane Swan Jonathan Nehamas Nicholas August 1 2023 DeSantis s Super PAC Burned Through 34 Million as He Slid in Polls The New York Times Retrieved November 23 2023 Piper Jessica Goldenberg Sally August 1 2023 DeSantis presidential ambitions are in the hands of a small circle of wealthy donors The Washington Post Retrieved November 23 2023 Roeder Oliver Xiao Eva Ron DeSantis leads Donald Trump and Joe Biden in 250mn 2024 election advertising race Financial Times Retrieved November 29 2023 Dixon Matt Allen Jonathan May 25 2023 Ron DeSantis administration officials solicit campaign cash from lobbyists NBC News Retrieved May 26 2023 Goodman J David Nehamas Nicholas June 26 2023 DeSantis Calls for Deadly Force Against Suspected Drug Traffickers The New York Times Retrieved June 28 2023 Vigdor Neil Nehamas Nicholas June 28 2023 DeSantis s Taxpayer Funded Helicopter Ride in Texas Draws Scrutiny The New York Times Retrieved June 28 2023 Burns Dasha Dixon Matt Allen Jonathan Smith Allan July 13 2023 Confidential DeSantis campaign memo looks to reassure donors amid stumbles NBC News Retrieved July 14 2023 Igielnik Ruth Fischer Andrew May 24 2023 Polls Have Shown DeSantis Trailing Trump The New York Times Retrieved May 25 2023 Skelley Geoffrey May 24 2023 The Rise Fall And Potential Resurrection Of Ron DeSantis FiveThirtyEight Retrieved May 25 2023 Korecki Natasha Dixon Matt April 28 2023 I think he s in trouble Growing number of Ron DeSantis donors and allies hope for a shake up NBC News Retrieved May 25 2023 Reeve Elle July 3 2023 How Ron DeSantis gained a fan base among some suburban women far from Florida CNN Retrieved July 6 2023 Goldmacher Shane Swan Jonathan Haberman Maggie May 28 2023 Trump Looks Like He Will Get the 2024 Crowd He Wants The New York Times Retrieved May 29 2023 Shepard Steven June 17 2023 Trump cruises DeSantis flatlines in polling even after bombshell indictment Politico Retrieved June 17 2023 Sforza Lauren July 3 2023 DeSantis PAC spokesperson calls Trump the runaway front runner The Hill Retrieved July 3 2023 McGraw Meridith July 3 2023 We are way behind Top DeSantis PAC official sounds alarm POLITICO Retrieved July 4 2023 Works cited edit Haberman Maggie 2022 Confidence Man The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America Amsterdam Singel Uitgeverijen ISBN 9789029549813 Further reading editKnowles Hannah Dawsey Josh Scherer Michael LeVine Marianne July 15 2023 A long slog Inside DeSantis s early struggles and effort to rebound The Washington Post Retrieved July 16 2023 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Ron DeSantis 2024 presidential campaign amp oldid 1189505185, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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