A conservative journalist wrote in a column Tuesday that Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looks “stupid” for continuing to ignore attacks from former President Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 presidential election. claimed to have spoken.
Conservative journalist and activist Ryan Gardusky writes: audience He spoke about his experience with the DeSantis campaign when he was invited to Florida in May 2023 for an event with other conservative “influencers.” Mr. Gardusky detailed his dissatisfaction with the campaign establishment, writing that after being given the opportunity to offer advice to Mr. DeSantis, a conservative journalist told the current presidential candidate that he needed to launch an attack on Trump. Ta. (Related: Haley and DeSantis argued for two hours, but everyone seemed to hate it)
“You need to attack Trump,” Gardusky alleges he told DeSantis.
“Do you want me to attack Trump right now?” Gardusky said, to which DeSantis responded.
“Yes, do you want my phone?” I can tweet from my phone. ' I answered. Everyone laughed, but I was half-serious,” Gardusky wrote.
“Trump had been attacking him for six months, and I said, 'The first time you ignore me, you look great. The 50th time, you look terrible.'
“I sank into my chair and thought, 'My parents are going to be so embarrassed if I say 'fuck' in front of Casey DeSantis,” the Spectator article said.
The Florida Republican presidential candidate looks on at his wife, Casey DeSantis, at a campaign event at the Chrome Horse Saloon, as Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) look on. Governor Ron DeSantis on January 14, 2024 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Gardusky continued to detail his experience with the campaign after the May event, adding that he was not a fan of the campaign's decisions. present Mr. DeSantis is active in the Twitter space. Gardusky became furious about the direction of the campaign after being invited to a conference call with other “influencers” in June to discuss how DeSantis could improve the campaign. .
“After an hour of pacing and growing anger, I left. My voice even cracked at one point,” Gardusky wrote. “I think the advance guard is a disgrace and should be fired, his message is all wrong, trying to act like an evangelical when he's not an evangelical doesn't work, Christian TV. I said his interview on the show was embarrassing.”
Genera Peck, DeSantis' former campaign manager, reportedly rejected the call.
“This is why super PACs can't do anything; they say they're not discussing this issue. This is Ted Cruz 2.0,” Gardusky reportedly responded.
Ron DeSantis' campaign sign is placed on the back of a car outside the Horizon Event Center caucus venue on January 15, 2024 in Clive, Iowa. Iowans will vote today in the state's caucuses for the first round of the 2024 Republican presidential nomination process. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
In the last poll before the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis fell to third place behind Trump and former U.N. official Nikki Haley. Despite the bleak outlook, DeSantis emerged in second place, two points behind Haley and 30 points behind Trump. (Related: DeSantis reveals fate of campaign if Iowa turns out worse than planned)
Thirty minutes later, multiple media outlets, including the Associated Press and CNN, announced that Trump had won. This early call, while some Iowans are still waiting to vote, faced criticism from DeSantis' camp.
The DeSantis campaign did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller's request for comment.
