FL GOP consultant who once led pro-DeSantis PAC slams him as 'flawed candidate': He’s 'the problem'

Ed Rollins, a longtime GOP consultant and strategist, believes Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is standing in the way of achieving a successful 2024 presidential campaign, Rolling Stone reports.

Rolling Stone Senior Political Reporter Aswan Suebsang on Monday tweeted screenshots from his and fellow Rolling Stone reporter Adam Rawnsley's new report, in which the pair interviewed Rollins.

Suebsang and Rawnsley report:

Last year, longtime Republican strategist Ed Rollins was leading the Ready for Ron PAC, and announcing his plans to help DeSantis — then an undeclared 2024 candidate — take on Trump in the primary. A longtime Trump supporter, Rollins wanted to turn the page on the twice-impeached former president, and he thought DeSantis was the candidate to do it. But in just a few months, that hope vanished. Today, Rollins says he is 'not involved' anymore in the pro-DeSantis efforts.

READ MORE: Rupert Murdoch unimpressed with 'loser' Ron DeSantis’ campaign: Rolling Stone

"I don't think it's the campaign's fault at all; it's his. I think he's been a very flawed candidate," Rollins told the publication. "I think it's gonna be Trump's game, and at this point in time, I would be shocked if Trump were not the nominee. … And at the end of the day, I don't see how Trump is a viable presidential candidate… So, unless something serious happens, Biden is probably going to get a second term… and I could even see Republicans losing their majority in the House.

A top DeSantis campaign donor added, "A top-to-bottom makeover and real accountability may be the only thing that saves Ron DeSantis [in the primary], but even then you still have the governor at the top. And it is getting harder and harder by the day to see not just his people as the problem, but him as the problem."

This is not the first time a high-profile GOPers have taken aim at DeSantis' disposition.

In April, veteran GOP political commentator Charlie Sykes said the governor has "got a personality problem which I think a lot of people always knew might come back to bite him – it certainly is now. But also, I think that with Ron DeSantis you're also seeing that he doesn’t have the kind of political instincts that he needs to be able to scale up, and you know, I hate myself for what I'm about to say here, but this last week, Donald Trump has outmaneuvered him on every single issue – actually looking more reasonable than Ron DeSantis."

Rolling Stone's full report is available at this link (subscription required).