Nearly two dozen top Republican Party contributors and fundraisers reportedly said that the focus has shifted from former President Donald Trump to former vice-president Mike Pence — and now it’s centered on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Florida Republican Governor seems to be their pick, but according to Politico’s Playbook, his former staffers think he’s an abusive asshole. And they aren’t too keen on DeSantis’s wife, either.
“Ron DeSantis is looking ahead to reelection next year and quite possibly a 2024 bid for president — but he’s left behind a trail of former disgruntled staffers and has no long-standing political machine to mount a national campaign, DeSantis vets say,” the report states.
“We talked to a dozen or so onetime aides and consultants to the Florida governor, and they all said the same thing: DeSantis treats staff like expendable widgets,” the report continues. “He largely relies on a brain trust of two: himself and his wife, Casey DeSantis, a former local TV journalist. Beyond that, there are few, if any, “DeSantis people,” as far as political pros are concerned.”
According to the outlet, former staffers reportedly felt the need to create a “support group” to trade war stories about their hardship working for the governor. The revolving door at the Governor’s office has been very busy, and he fired five staffers within six months of taking office.
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“At the beginning of his administration, DeSantis directed the Florida Republican Party leader to fire a party official who had cancer — on that person’s first week back from surgery,” the outlet reports.
“DeSantis often blames his staff for his own blunders, we’re told,” the report continues. “After DeSantis went on Fox News in 2018 and implored Florida voters not to “monkey this up” by supporting his African American Democratic opponent for governor, he and his wife chewed out his campaign staff for not cleaning up the mess, according to three former staffers. Shortly after, DeSantis brought in a whole new group of advisers.”
Well, he seems like a real peach of a guy, and he’s very Trumpian, blaming others for his own mistakes. I’m starting to see a pattern here with Republicans.
You can read the full report here.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
