'Why don’t you come over here and get it': DeSantis team 'nearly came to blows' in strategy meeting
Infighting between strategists working on the floundering presidential campaign of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently brought an emergency meeting to address the state of the campaign to a screeching halt.
According to an unnamed source confiding to NBC News, longtime DeSantis aide Scott Wagner and Jeff Roe, who is a consultant for the pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down, "nearly came to blows" during a strategy meeting to discuss the rise of former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.
"You have a stick up your a-- Scott," Roe told Wagner.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?
"Why don’t you come over here and get it?" Wagner said in response, while reportedly rising from his chair.
DeSantis, who was thought to be present the closest challenge to former President Donald Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, has been slipping in both national polls and early state polls, while Haley has continued to rise. According to RealClearPolitics' current national polling average, Haley is now at 10.6% while DeSantis is barely ahead at 14%. However, two months ago DeSantis enjoyed a 14.4% share of Republican votes while Haley had just 5.8%.
In early state primaries like New Hampshire and South Carolina, Haley has consistently outperformed the Florida governor. In the Granite State for example, Haley is in second place behind Trump and currently registers at 18.7% support, while DeSantis is in fourth place and sliding with just 7.7% of voters preferring him. Trump continues to maintain a commanding lead, however, beating his closest opponents by more than 30 points on average.
The infighting plaguing the DeSantis campaign stems from fundamental disagreements between the principal figures involved in the Never Back Down PAC and DeSantis' close allies in Tallahassee. Ongoing strife between the two parties prompted DeSantis allies to launch a rival super PAC dubbed Fight Right Inc. — a move apparently prompted by both DeSantis and his wife, Casey.
READ MORE: 'He backstabbed our president': Florida Republicans say they have 'no respect' for DeSantis
Fight Right's first ad in Iowa seeks to draw comparisons between Nikki Haley and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whom Haley attributed as "the reason" she got into politics. Haley reportedly said while she doesn't share Clinton's political views, she viewed Clinton as an important figure for women who wanted to seek office.
NBC's full report is here.
