A new report published Sunday revealed the identity of a leaker behind the Ron DeSantis debate memo which outlined the former candidate’s strategy for the August 2023 GOP debate.
The memo, leaked Aug. 17, 2023, told DeSantis “to take a sledgehammer” to entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy during the August 2023 Republican primary debate, while also advising the Florida governor to portray himself as the obvious choice to inherit the GOP from Trump. Two operatives from Trust in the Mission PAC, the super PAC that backed former candidate Tim Scott, obtained and leaked the memo, according to The Bulwark, which named Luke Thompson as one of the consultants.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
– Winston Churchill pic.twitter.com/ECoR8YeiMm
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 21, 2024
The memo, written by Jeff Roe, the top strategist for DeSantis’ Never Back Down PAC, was not authorized by the super PAC’s board, nor was the Florida governor’s presidential campaign aware of the memo until it was published in The New York Times (NYT), according to the outlet.
Internal tensions rose since the NYT reported on the memo, and Roe was accused of intentionally leaking the strategy to the outlet. However, the memo was publicly posted online by Roe to his firm’s website to abide by the law, hidden in plain sight, where consultants from Scott’s super PAC found it, The Bulwark reported.
The strategy planned that DeSantis should both “defend Donald Trump” against attacks from former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and use the former president’s recent indictments against him. (RELATED: Donald Trump Reveals ‘One Thing’ Required Of His VP)
“Trump isn’t here, so let’s just leave him alone,” one line toward Christie from the leaks read. “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 on a show for MSNBC.”
DeSantis dismissed having any knowledge of the memo before its leak. He told Fox News Digital, “The memo is not mine. I haven’t read it,” when confronted about the strategy.