Ex-Reagan adviser turned DeSantis superPAC founder explains 'chaos' behind governor’s failed campaign
23 January 2024
During an interview with CNN's Abby Phillips Monday, Ed Rollins, former President Ronald Reagan chief political adviser and founder of one of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis superPACs, laid out the many problems with the Sunshine State leader's failed 2024 presidential campaign.
Phillips noted, "DeSantis has said the early ground game was an issue. He said he didn't do enough TV interviews. Back in July, I'll note that you called DeSantis, quote, 'a very flawed candidate.' Is the problem at the end of the day, was it the campaign or was it the candidate?"
The longtime GOP consultant replied, "It was both. At the end of the day there was more than sufficient resources to run a major campaign. The amount of money he spent has never been spent in a campaign before. When I ran Reagan's campaign — which is 40 years ago — but I spent $40 million, won 50 states, 49 states. In this particular case, they ran out of money, they laid staff off at critical times. They made changes. They didn't control their budget. You have to always know where your money is. You have to know what's coming in, you have to know where to spend it. And he himself just wasn't a charismatic candidate. And I like him. I think his policies are good policies. But at the end of the day trump is a bigger than life player, and he couldn't compete with that."
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Phillips said, "What's also notable about DeSantis is in the early months of this campaign he had a different message. He wanted to be more anti-woke than Trump, and ultimately that failed. Was that message part of the miscalculation here?"
Rollins replied, "Absolutely. There's no question about it. even the name of his pac, never back down, what does that mean to ordinary people? You're not the crips in the ghetto. I mean, the bottom line here is you need to say something positive for people. It's going to be about the people, going to make things happen for the people. 'Never back down' is a derogatory term. The other problem you have is you tried to use the superPAC which is — there's a line drawn between the superPAC and the campaign, and they tried to make the superPAC that had all the money do a lot of the things they normally do in a campaign. So they always had to watch the FEC and there was just all kinds of chaos. Tallahassee people that run his governor's campaign were excluded. And now Susie Wild, who's running Trump's campaign, is one of the best operatives in the country. She had a falling out with him. She's now basically doing Trump's campaign. Chaos."
The CNN host added, "Yeah. Moments ago DeSantis jumped back into his role as governor of Florida. He actually vowed to veto efforts by other Florida Republicans who want to use taxpayer dollars to help pay for Trump's legal bills. Does that surprise you that someone who just literally endorsed Trump would come out so strongly and publicly against this effort?"
Rollins emphasized, "Nothing he does surprises me. He's not a big picture thinker there. I think at the end of the day, he's now in the camp whether he wants to be or not. He endorsed Trump today, or yesterday, and the reality is he's got to run with that team or he's going to pay a heavy price."
READ MORE: 'Political discrimination': Florida Republicans push for state to pay Trump’s legal bills
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