Ron DeSantis axed handfuls of his campaign staff last week. Politico says the move comes after his campaign failed to hit fundraising targets.
The Florida Governor’s long-anticipated campaign has not soared in the way he and his team surely hoped it would. An anonymous insider on the campaign said around a dozen staff members were let go on Thursday. Some may pick up new roles in ‘Never Back Down’ and other super PACs affiliated with DeSantis.
Another Republican source told NBC that DeSantis’ possibly hired too many people at the start of his campaign.
“They never should have brought so many people on; the burn rate was way too high. People warned the campaign manager but she wanted to hear none of it.”
DeSantis fundraising slowing
DeSantis raised an impressive $20 million in the second quarter, according to new filings. The ‘Never Back Down’ PAC told Fox News it also raised $130 million since March.
However, there are signs that DeSantis’ fundraising has slowed in recent weeks. A third of the $20 million he raised came in the ten days after he announced. Also, only around 15 percent of his donations came from small-dollar donors. His main rival, Donald Trump, raises significantly more from small donations.
At the end of June, a video the DeSantis campaign put out, in which he sought to portray Trump as an LGBTQ+ friendly candidate, was particularly poorly received. Even gay Republicans such as Richard Grenell and George Santos denounced it as homophobic. It was later quietly deleted from social media.
DeSantis reportedly had 92 staff in the early days of his campaign. That’s more than any other GOP Presidential candidate. It’s believed he’s focussing a large chunk of funding to campaign in Iowa, which might explain the decision to cut the campaign’s employee payroll figure.
“Americans are rallying behind Ron DeSantis and his plan to reverse Joe Biden’s failures and restore sanity to our nation, and his momentum will only continue as voters see more of him in person, especially in Iowa,” said DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo to Politico. “Defeating Joe Biden and the $72 million behind him will require a nimble and candidate-driven campaign, and we are building a movement to go the distance.”
Former DeSantis donor pledges to support Trump
Last week, CNBC reported that Ike Perlmutter, a billionaire ex-Marvel and Disney executive, was planning to donate to Donald Trump. Perlmutter is Disney’s largest individual shareholder, with a net worth of around $3.6 billion. Perlmutter has donated to DeSantis in the past. He gave the Florida politician $250,000 in 2018 and also donated to his re-election campaign in 2022.
A spokesperson for Perlmutter told CNBC the billionaire plans to make a “meaningful” donation to help Trump win the Presidential primary. It is undoubtedly more bad news for Ron DeSantis, who has been at war with Disney since the corporation criticized Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” law last year.
Perlmutter was formey chairman of Marvel Entertainment. However, he was laid off in April after repeatedly clashing with Disney CEO Bob Iger.
Related:
If you thought that advert from Ron DeSantis was bad, wife Casey’s first campaign video is worse
Casey DeSantis launched ‘Mamas For DeSantis’ nationwide this week.
George Santos blasts Ron DeSantis’ latest campaign ad: “The gayest crap I’ve ever seen”
And Pete Buttigieg had a few choice words about it, too.
Mister P
Contrary to what Dee Crans thinks, it is this douche who is putting all his money on the culture wars and is suffering the consequences.
We know that an attack on one of the LGBTQ+ is an attack on us all.
Kangol2
He, Nikki Haley, Tim Scott, Parson Pence, etc. All are tanking!
abfab
He’s bwoke.
cc423
This is the funniest dang thing I have read in ages!
And yes I am stealing “bwoke.”
Kangol2
Excellent!
dbmcvey
Amazing. Remember when everyone said he is the hope of the Republican Party despite him having no plans or ideas other than culture wars and calling everything he doesn’t like “woke.”
Mister P
That is excellent Abfab. Where his bwoke campaign came to die
abfab
His Florida is one big Bwokeback Mountain.
Mister P
Gays against guns dot net.
abfab
inalaBAMA would make a perfect homecoming queen. Remember Julie Brown?
It was homecoming night at my high school
Everyone was there, it was totally cool
I was real excited, I almost wet my jeans
‘Cause my best friend Debbie was homecoming queen
… She looked so pretty in pink chiffon (chiffon)
Riding the float with her tiara on (tiara on)
Holding this humongous bouquet in her hand (bouquet)
She looked straight out of Disneyland
You know, like, the Cinderella ride? I mean definitely an E-ticket (e-ticket)
… The crowd was cheering, everyone was stoked (was stoked)
I mean it was like the whole school was totally coked or something
The band was playing Evergreen
Then all of a sudden, somebody screamed
“Look out, the homecoming queen’s got a gun!”
… Everybody run
The homecoming queen’s got a gun
Everybody run
The homecoming queen has got a gun
… Debbie’s smiling and waving her gun
Picking off cheerleaders one by one
Oh, Buffy’s pom-pom just blew to bits
Oh no, Mitzi’s head just did the splits
God, my best friend’s on a shooting spree
Stop it, Debbie, you’re embarrassing me
How could you do what you just did?
Are you having a really bad period?
… Everybody run
The homecoming queen’s got a gun
Everybody run
The homecoming queen has got a gun
(Stop Debbie, you’re making a mess)
(Powder burns all over your dress)
… An hour later, the cops arrived
By then the entire glee club had died, no big loss
You wouldn’t believe what they brought to stop her
Tear gas, machine guns, even a chopper
(Throw down your gun and tiara and come out of the float)
… Debbie didn’t listen to what the cop said
She aimed and fired, and now the math teacher’s dead
Oh, it’s really sad, but kind of a relief
I mean, we had this big test coming up next week
… Everybody run
The homecoming queen’s got a gun
Everybody run
The homecoming queen has got a gun
(Debbie’s really having a blast)
(She’s wasting half of the class)
… The cops fired a warning shot that blew her off the float
I tried to scream “duck” but it stuck in my throat
She hit the ground and did a flip, it was real acrobatic
But I was crying so hard, I couldn’t work my Instamatic
I ran down to Debbie, I had to find out
What made her do it? Why’d she freak out?
I saw the bullet had got her right in the ear
I knew then the end was near
… So I ran down and I said, in her good ear
“Debbie, why did you do it?”
She raised her head, smiled and said, “I did it for Johnny”
… Johnny? Well, like, who’s Johnny?
Answer me, Debbie, who’s Johnny?
Does anybody here know Johnny? Are you Johnny?
There was one guy named Johnny, but he was a total geek, he always had food in his braces
Answer me, Debbie, who’s Johnny?
Oh god, this is like that movie Citizen Kane
You know, where you later find out Rosebud was a sled?
But we’ll never know who Johnny was ’cause, like, she’s dead
… Everybody run
The homecoming queen’s got a gun
Everybody run
The homecoming queen has got a
Everybody run
Everybody run
The homecoming queen has got a
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Ray Colcord / Terrence Mcnally / Charles Coffey / Julie Ann Brown
GayEGO
Ha ha ha! Ron De-mentia is messing up big time!
fredk
Karen Duh Sanford & Son must be rushing out for extra Botox fillers just to deal.
Fahd
Especially with his pending criminal charges, the Count of Monte Crisco is not dropping out of the race. If the Republicans (Mitch McConnell) somehow manage to deny him the Republican nomination, he´ll run as an independent.
Biden can surely win in that scenario … a non-Tr*mp Republican nominee, and Tr*mp’s base voting for him as an Independent. (G.H.W. Bush’s loss in 1992 is an example of how the third party candidate can undermine the mainstream Repubican candidate).
DeSantis seems out as a nominee, so now the question is, how can Florida’s downward spiral be stopped during the remainder of his seemingly endless term of office?
abfab
DRAIN THE SWAMP! DRAIN THE SWAMP!
LOCK HER UP! LOCK HER UP!
Openminded
I can’t see Trump as an independent candidate, but I certainly believe the 2024 race will be greatly impacted by an independent. Not sure who will stand out, but I truly believe there are many GOPers that won’t vote for Trump and quite a few DEMs who won’t support Biden due to age issues. If I believed America was ready to elect a gay POTUS, I would like to see Pete run as independent. What I would really love to see is an Independent Primary race. I think the GOPs biggest problem with dealing with DeSantis is kicking him out without souring the Florida voters and seeing it go strong Blue. IMHO, the GOP needs to focus on a Trump replacement that can keep the Florida vote. It’s a good thing both Trump and DeSantis have such huge egos, otherwise we would probably see DeSantis as Trumps running mate. Could it get any worse than that?
DBMC
Trump won’t need to run as an independent. The insane Republican base still loves him. He will be the nominee.