‘Defend Donald Trump’: DeSantis Allies Post Internal Memo Laying Out ‘Four Basic Must-Dos’ At Debate
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R) political operation recently posted a trove of documents laying out his campaign strategy, including how best to handle the field during the upcoming GOP presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The internal memos, “blunt advice,” and polling data were first reported on by the New York Times on Thursday after journalists were tipped off to their existence on a website owned by the chief strategist of the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, Jeff Roe.
Times reporters Jonathan Swan, Shane Goldmacher, and Maggie Haberman reported the documents included “four basic must-dos” for DeSantis, who is referred to in the memo as “GRD,” at the debate.
“1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State GRD’s positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack,” one of the key memos reads.
The memo even goes so far as to offer DeSantis some specific lines. “Trump isn’t here, so let’s just leave him alone. He’s too weak to defend himself here. We’re all running against him. I don’t think we want to join forces with someone on this stage who’s auditioning for a show on MSNBC,” the memo suggests DeSantis say in response to former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attacking Trump.
Notably, the Never Back Down PAC released an ad on Wednesday taunting Trump as “too weak” to debate, given the president’s refusal to commit to debate.
The memo also encourages DeSantis to viciously attack Vivek Ramaswamy, the entrepreneur who has been gaining in the polls in recent weeks with a pro-Trump message. “Take a sledgehammer to Vivek Ramaswamy: ‘Fake Vivek’ Or ‘Vivek the Fake,’” reads the memo, suggesting DeSantis offer a Trump-like insult and nickname for Ramaswamy.
The report also adds some details as to how the journalists found the memos, “The New York Times was alerted to the existence of the documents by a person not connected to the DeSantis campaign or the super PAC. After The Times reached out to Never Back Down for comment on Thursday, the group removed from the website a key memo summarizing the suggested strategy for the debate.”
“The memo came down from the website shortly after the Times contacted the super PAC for comment,” added Haberman on Twitter.
Read the full New York Times story here.
