Ron DeSantis standing in front of an American flag.

Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis keeps sinking lower… and lower… and lower.

The flailing candidate is melting down, while one of his biggest supporters and strategists is heading for the exits.

For months, we’ve reported on the curious relationship between DeSantis’ campaign and his Super PAC, Don’t Back Down. The group was seeded with an unprecedented $82.5 million at the start of his presidential run, tasked with running many aspects of the Florida governor’s operation.

That was unusually for a number of reasons, beginning with the fact it’s illegal for campaigns and Super PACs to coordinate with one another. Yet, Don’t Back Down was essentially running DeSantis’ futile presidential bid.

And the controversies were endless.

Prior to the first Republican debate, the group’s campaign memo leaked. In it, DeSantis was implored to “show emotion” and talk about his family.

The embarrassing reveal fueled distrust between the gay-hating governor’s official advisors and his Super PAC. Those feelings only worsened when audio leaked of Jeff Roe, the head of Don’t Back Down, begging supporters for $50 million

A veteran GOP operative, Roe was reportedly displeased with Casey DeSantis’ outsized role in her husband’s campaign. The tension came to a head last month, when Roe almost got involved in a physical altercation with a longtime DeSantis confidante, Scott Wagner.

Over the weekend, The Washington Post published a huge exposé about the chaos engulfing DeSantis’ campaign and Don’t Back Down. Five senior officials have left the group since late November, and Roe resigned on Sunday.

In the aforementioned Post story, Wagner, who’s now the Super PACs interim CEO, blamed the departures of some of Roe’s top confidants on “numerous unauthorized leaks containing false information.”

On social media, Roe said he cannot “in good conscience” stay affiliated with the group.

While all of that turmoil was occurring behind the scenes, the candidate himself was flailing on stage. During a campaign stop in Iowa, DeSantis was continuously heckled by a woman in the crowd. The woman wouldn’t quite down, prompting DeSantis to try and argue with her in the middle of his stump speech.

“Excuse me. I’m not finished. I’m doing my thing,” he whined.

Unsurprisingly, DeSantis failed to regain his composure, droning on about beating the Democrats on election security and George Soros on criminal justice. He also said something about banning “Zuckerbucks,” whatever that means.

Ron Filipkowski of Meidas Touch shared the video on social media, along with the caption: “Poor Ronny Desantis. His PAC Chair fleeced him of his campaign money then split, and now this woman is heckling him in Iowa today and I think he might cry.”

Watch the video below. There’s usually more palpable joy in a dentist’s office.

Sunday’s episode wasn’t the first time one of DeSantis’ campaign events in Iowa was derailed by hecklers. Over the summer, two women yelled at him to head back to Florida, and called him “pudding fingers” for good measure (for the blissfully unaware, a former DeSantis staffer said he once ate chocolate pudding with three fingers).

With performances like these, it isn’t surprising that DeSantis is lagging in the polls. He’s seemingly pinned his dismal presidential hopes on the Hawkeye State; and yet, is trailing Donald Trump by 38 points (58-22).

Worse yet, DeSantis is now a distant third place in New Hampshire. While Trump still leads the group, Nikki Haley has closed the gap significantly. The ex-South Carolina governor now leads DeSantis by 18 points(!) in the Granite State.

DeSantis’ fortunes are looking so bad, Casey recently implored mothers and “grand moms” to descend upon Iowa for the caucus next month. She falsely said you don’t have to be a resident of the state to participate in the process.

In other words, the DeSantis campaign is now asking supporters to commit voter fraud. How the tables have turned!

Speaking of illegal activity, DeSantis’ campaign and Don’t Back Down were recently accused of violating federal election laws… just like we all suspected.

“Never PAC has for months coordinated its activities with and made in-kind contributions to DeSantis and his campaign committee, contravening the explicit legal requirement that super PACs must remain ‘independent’ of—i.e., not coordinate with or make contributions to—federal candidates or their campaigns,” the complaint says.

DeSantis’ team, of course, denies the allegation. When he launched his campaign, he intended to state his case to GOP voters.

Instead, he may wind up arguing his case to the Federal Election Commission.

What a sad, sad turn of events.

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