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DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Three senior members of a super PAC backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis left the group on Saturday, the latest sign of instability within the 2024 hopeful’s political operation just six weeks before the Iowa Republican caucuses. Kristin Davison parted ways with Never Back Down just after she took over leading the group following the departure of CEO Chris Jankowski less than two weeks ago. Also leaving Saturday were communications director Erin Perrine and director of operations Matt Palmisano, according to two people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss Never...

The G.O.P. contender’s campaign tried to take on Donald Trump’s online army. Now it just wants to end the meme wars. ---------------------------------- In early May, as Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida prepared to run for president, about a dozen right-wing social media influencers gathered at his pollster’s home for cocktails and a poolside buffet. The guests all had large followings or successful podcasts and were already fans of the governor. But Mr. DeSantis’s team wanted to turn them into a battalion of on-message surrogates who could tangle with Donald J. Trump and his supporters online. For some, however, the gathering...

There was an eight-point swing to former President Donald Trump away from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) among likely Republican primary voters after Wednesday night’s second debate. Two days before Wednesday’s debate, Trump had 58 percent support in Morning Consult’s poll. After the debate, where he did not appear, Trump’s support surged to 63 percent.On the other hand, DeSantis fell three points in the poll, down to 12 percent from the 15 percent he held on Monday.Trump now holds a 51-point advantage over DeSantis, according to Morning Consult’s poll.“The sizable shift from Monday to Thursday is notable compared with what happened...

Team DeSantis is referring to the political persecution of @realDonaldTrump as “Trump’s jail drama.”Team DeSantis has shown their true colors… They are on the side of the Biden regime and the Uniparty.Absolutely disgusting! https://t.co/NBwE4m8Yi2— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) August 25, 2023Far away from Trump's jail drama, Ron DeSantis and his family head to Iowa's 'Field of Dreams' | AP News https://t.co/sXHgxumpHT— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) August 25, 2023

South Carolinians have been bombarded in recent weeks with massive door hangers from a political action committee affiliated with Florida governor Ron DeSantis. These missives encourage them to consider the second-term Sunshine State governor as an alternative to Donald Trump. A paid employee leaving these “door hangs” for the Never Back Down PAC wants a particular voter in Charleston, S.C. to consider something else that dangles, though. Specifically … his balls. “#### you, get off my ####### lawn,” the door-knocker is heard saying on a Ring door camera, mimicking a property owner in the area who apparently confronted him for...

Team #Desantis is having some issues... Specifically, the man on man showering thing. @ErinMPerrine-Communications Director for @NvrBackDown24 is on top of it

Former President Donald Trump increased his lead over Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) to 28-points after the Florida governor officially launched his presidential campaign, a Yahoo News/YouGov found.###As Yahoo News reported:Among potential Republican primary voters — registered voters who identify as Republicans or GOP-leaning independents — Trump now leads the full field of seven declared candidates with 53%. That’s up from 48% in early May, before DeSantis threw his hat in the ring. And DeSantis now lags further behind than he did just a few weeks ago; his 25% is down from 28% in early May.Put another way, DeSantis trailed Trump...

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arrived in South Carolina on Friday on the third leg of an early-state swing after receiving news that his disastrous campaign launch saw him lose ground to frontrunner Donald Trump. A new poll shows the former president increased his lead over DeSantis by eight points since early May. The data will be a blow to DeSantis, who last week used an online interview with Twitter owner Elon Musk to enter the race. But glitches on Twitter Spaces meant the event was late starting and listeners were repeatedly kicked out of the feed. A Yahoo News/YouGov of...

DES MOINES, Iowa – The super PAC promoting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to have dozens of staff in place in the first 18 states on the Republican presidential primary calendar in the coming weeks, a move indicating that his expected 2024 announcement is drawing closer. The plans, shared with The Associated Press, are part of the group Never Back Down's strategy to begin political organizing for DeSantis all the way through Super Tuesday on March 5 and point to a novel approach the super PAC is attempting ahead of a likely DeSantis run. In Iowa, where the leadoff GOP...

The SuperPac supporting Ron DeSantis called Never Back Down, has taken hundreds of millions of dollars from the Wall Street, billionaire, Sea Island, multinational corporation and hedge fund donors. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is injecting another $85 million from his leadership pac in Florida. All told it is the largest single assembly of political cash in the history of presidential campaigning, estimated value well north of $500 million.With all of that in mind, this is the best the communications team can come up with:Now, please do not misconstrue what I am saying. I am not saying these people are just...

Next week, DeSantis will resume his political travel in the next week with visits to Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. [cut] Speculation about an official kickoff date has been rampant, covering much of the calendar between now and July-4 with potential locations ranging from his childhood hometown of Dunedin, Florida, to somewhere along the Rust Belt where his parents are from. [cut] The circle has expanded out of necessity as DeSantis builds out a nationwide campaign. Never Back Down, a super PAC expected to play an outsized role boosting DeSantis, has beefed up its staff and is already raising money and...

Erin Perrine, who was the press communications director for former President Donald Trump's 2020 campaign, has joined a super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Perrine will be the communications director for the "Never Back Down" PAC, a group led by Trump-era top homeland security official Ken Cuccinelli. After her stint as the 2020 Trump campaign's national spokesperson, Perrine served as communications director for GOP Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. ... Earlier this week, seasoned GOP strategist Jeff Roe was also brought on as an adviser to the super PAC, according to a Republican operative with direct knowledge of the move....

Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) has hired Trump campaign press aide Erin Perrine as his new communications director. Perrine most recently was director of press communications for former President Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign. Before that, she had stints with the offices of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and campaigns for Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) and former Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “I’m excited to join @SenTedCruz’s team today as Communications Director and come back home to Capitol Hill!” Perrine tweeted Thursday. The hire comes as Cruz leans into his pro-Trump bona fides ahead of a potential...