Officials with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' main super PAC last week told donors the campaign urgently needed $50 million before the Iowa caucuses to defeat former President Donald Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Never Back Down effectively has taken over the DeSantis presidential campaign, and the super PAC's CEO, Chris Jankowski, chief operating officer Kristin Davison, and chief strategist Jeff Roe spoke with wealthy Republicans in Milwaukee before the first GOP presidential primary debate, CNN reported Thursday.
"We just need your help getting $50 million more by the end of the year, and $100 million more by the end of March," Jankowski told donors hours before the Aug. 23 debate. "I'm not worried about the second 50. We need the first 50."
The super PAC officials, according to leaked audio obtained by CNN, explained a push to lean more heavily on Florida first lady Casey DeSantis and a goal of getting more than 100,000 Iowans to caucus for DeSantis.
Roe told the donors that much of the $50 million was required before the second Republican debate, on Sept. 27, The New York Times reported Thursday.
CNN reported the requested donations would help cover $25 million in airtime that Never Back Down plans to purchase after Labor Day through Oct. 31 in New Hampshire and Iowa.
Roe, saying $5 million a month was needed just to sustain his Iowa operations, stressed that DeSantis needed to beat Trump in "the next 60 days" and separate from all of his other rivals "now."
The Times added that Roe sees DeSantis' chances "as resting on winning Iowa."
CNN reported that about 60 donors attended the fundraising lunch. The attendees included Dallas businessman Roy Bailey, the former co-chair of the Trump campaign's finance committee.
Davison told CNN that "every investor wants to see how you get to the final round and how you win, and almost all the donors left confident that that we had a clear path to victory to help the governor win."
National polling consistently has shown Trump far ahead in the Republican primary race, with DeSantis second.
Never Back Down has taken $82.5 million out of DeSantis' state political committee, raised an additional nearly $50 million. and spent nearly $34 million through the end of June, according to the Federal Election Committee.
The super PAC is running nearly every aspect of the DeSantis presidential campaign despite being barred by campaign finance laws from coordinating strategy with either the governor or his campaign team.
Charlie McCarthy ✉
Charlie McCarthy, a writer/editor at Newsmax, has nearly 40 years of experience covering news, sports, and politics.
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