Senior officials from Donald J. Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign on Monday issued a strategic memo to donors and other parties interested in the campaign of Republican candidate Ron DeSantis, highlighting what they believe to be key problems in DeSantis’ bid for the presidency.
In a memorandum addressed to “Ron DeSantis for President Donors and Other Interested Parties,” Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles have listed a series of questions they think donors should be asking about DeSantis’ campaign.
They said, “We believe it is important to provide you, the donors who generously fund and raise money, with a list of relevant questions considering the current circumstances faced by his campaign.”
The memo comes at a time when DeSantis is “trailing President Trump by a significant margin,” in every public poll, with senior campaign officials even confirming they are “way behind.”
DeSantis himself acknowledged his polling showing him in the “twenties.”
Citing a source within the DeSantis campaign, the memo quoted, “From my understanding, if we don’t see a bump in the polls, we are basically going to shut down the idea of a national operation.”
In the memo, ABC News is quoted saying that DeSantis’ early struggles “have led some of the Florida governor’s major donors to privately question his viability as a presidential candidate while Trump is still in the race,” adding that some top donors have started exploring other primary candidates, including Chris Christie, Senator Tim Scott, and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
NBC News has been quoted in the memo, stating that the numbers suggest “solvency could be a threat to DeSantis’ campaign” and reflecting the broader reality that DeSantis is polling ahead of the Republican primary pack but far behind former President Donald Trump.
The memo also raises concerns about the DeSantis campaign’s financial structure, indicating that “the campaign is spending unsustainably on a bloated payroll and not raising sufficient funds necessary for a long-term campaign.”
Some of the pointed questions directed at DeSantis in the memo include: “What exactly are the 93 individuals on the campaign payroll doing?” and “Can you provide assurance to SuperPAC donors that Jeff Roe is not claiming $0.68 for each dollar spent, as his private investment information suggests?”
They also probe DeSantis’ expenditure breakdown, asking for a return on investment for direct mail and online fundraising operations, questioning the campaign’s reliance on Corporate Media, and casting doubts on the effectiveness of the SuperPAC and affiliated organizations in supporting DeSantis.
Finally, the memo suggests that if donors continue to support the “failing Ron DeSantis campaign,” they can’t claim they weren’t warned, as the memo casts a harsh light on what they perceive to be shortcomings and weaknesses in his campaign.
Other questions raised in the memo include the following:
- “Despite the SuperPAC and affiliated organizations like the Club for No Growth and Koch Brothers operations spending tens of millions of dollars to prop up Ron DeSantis while attacking President Trump, the numbers have not budged. In fact, they have moved in favor of President Trump. What is the campaign’s plan to change this trajectory?”
- “If the Corporate Media is responsible, as the Governor has stated, for the polling collapse (not Republican voters), why seek attention from Jake Tapper?”
- “The SuperPAC’s pollster, who is spending millions of dollars of your money, often highlights the Governor’s high favorability rating. However, people are still widely supporting President Donald Trump. Isn’t that a problem?”
- “How much has the campaign and SuperPAC spent on unmotivated door knockers?”
- “Even Governor DeSantis is now admitting his post-midterm polling numbers were a ‘sugar high.’ Were you as donors aware that the Governor and his team thought this?”
