Ron way, go back: Three times the DeSantis campaign shot itself in the foot

Since Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) announced his bid for the presidency in 2024 earlier this year, the onetime favorite to take on former President Donald Trump has faced several self-inflicted setbacks that were quickly seized on by Trump and his other opponents.

Prior to launching his campaign in May, DeSantis had been building suspense for months. This spiked during the November 2022 midterm elections, in which Republicans underperformed across the board, including several candidates who ran on the backs of an endorsement by Trump. However, the party saw a red wave in Florida as DeSantis sailed to reelection.

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But DeSantis has failed to regain the close standing he saw with Trump in the polls following the 2022 midterm elections and has seen a steady downward turn nationally as Trump’s lead over the field expands.

Despite back-to-back strong debate performances against the GOP field and in a head-to-head event with Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), DeSantis’s campaign has continued to scuffle. Most recently, the chief strategist for the governor’s super PAC, Never Back Down, resigned, citing dissension among the ranks.

Here is a look at three points at which DeSantis’s campaign set itself back.

Twitter campaign launch

The culmination of months of presidential bid speculation came when the DeSantis team announced a virtual event with Elon Musk, billionaire Tesla CEO and owner of X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The move surprised many, as campaign launches are traditionally during in-person rallies that allow candidates to introduce themselves.

Using X’s “spaces” feature, in which groups of users can speak and listen in an audio-only room, DeSantis joined Musk to make his much-speculated announcement. However, the campaign launch was marred by technical difficulties as Musk’s app crashed several times, and audio quality was affected.

The move was widely ridiculed for its high-risk and low-reward nature, particularly as average voters aren’t habitual X users.

DeSantis lost two endorsements from New Hampshire legislators as a direct result of the mishap.

Leaks and reboots

From the outset, DeSantis’s large-scale campaign, complete with nearly 100 staffers, was plagued by leaks detailing the inner conflicts taking place. Various seemingly unstoppable leaks painted a picture of a lack of communication and team members on different pages.

With just two months under the campaign’s belt, it was reported the effort was undergoing a reboot to change its trajectory.

By the end of July, leakers told press that morale was low and described the campaign as “on the brink.” The dismal portrait of DeSantis’s operation was not just concerning for voters but also for donors who were beginning to question if the Florida governor could truly take on Trump.

The rumored reboot, however, wasn’t immediately understood, and differences weren’t clear from the initial campaign.

The campaign didn’t outline its plans for such a reboot, but DeSantis began to participate in more legacy media events and discuss “wokeness” less.

Campaign cash burn rate

The already struggling campaign faced another setback when its first quarterly fundraising filing was made public. The candidate, who managed to pull in significant funding for his White House bid, had apparently burned through roughly $7.9 million in six weeks following his launch.

This burn rate raised significant red flags, as the first nominating contest was months away, and DeSantis’s money would need to last the entire primary cycle, especially if he hoped to give Trump a run for his money.

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Following concern over the DeSantis campaign’s spending, nearly 38 staffers were fired, cutting the team by one-third heading into August.

The money mismanagement sounded further alarm bells for donors at a time when some were growing skeptical of the Florida governor. It additionally set the campaign up for the current primary environment, in which former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has more cash to spend after carefully raising money and waiting to use it.