Pro-Gov. Ron DeSantis' Never Back Down super PAC spokesman Steve Cortes said during a Twitter Spaces broadcast Sunday that the Florida governor's 2024 GOP primary campaign is "way behind" former President Donald Trump.
"We are way behind [in national polling]," Cortes, a former member of Trump's team who switched over to the DeSantis camp, said during the broadcast. "It's an uphill battle. I don't think it is an unwinnable battle by any stretch, but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway front-runner."
Cortes said that the recent indictments of Trump, on state charges in New York and federal charges in Florida, have given him a huge bump in national polling, where he now leads DeSantis by almost 30 percentage points.
Polling website FiveThityEight has Trump ahead of DeSantis 51.8% to 23.5% in its combination of several national polls.
That same site had a gap of around just 2 percentage points in April, before the indictments.
The website also shows Trump's support increased dramatically following the April 4 New York indictment, continuing to trail up slightly through the federal case indictment in June.
"It is understandable that a lot of folks want to rally to [Trump] when he is unfairly, not being prosecuted, but persecuted," Cortes said. "Particularly with [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg in New York. That is a complete sham."
He said, however, that polling in the first four states scheduled to hold GOP primaries in the 2024 race shows the gap between them tightening.
"We have work to do," he said. "We have wood to chop."
Cortes said it was a "big" and "difficult" decision to switch his backing from Trump, whom he worked for in various capacities through the 2016 campaign and first term in office, to joining the DeSantis camp for 2024. However, he believes the Florida GOP governor has the best chance of winning the general election.
"I was absolutely honored to work for President Trump," he said. "From this point forward, this minute forward into the 2024 election and beyond, who is the best candidate?"
Cortes said that he was certainly "loyal" to Trump while he was working for him, but he is now loyal to his principles and conservative beliefs.
"I don't believe [Trump] is the most conservative, patriotic, populist candidate that can win the general election," he said. "When I look at the misery [President] Joe Biden is inflicting on this country, with inflation and crisis at the border, I have such a sense of urgency to defeat him and replace him."
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