The New York Times unearthed what it said was a debate strategy document prepared by an outside political group supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suggesting that he should defend former President Donald Trump and “hammer” rival Vivek Ramaswamy in the first Republican presidential primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, next week.
The Times reported that the document was posted online by a firm working with a DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down. Super PACs can raise money to spend on behalf of candidates but they are restricted in their ability to work directly with campaigns.
The Times reported:
A firm associated with the super PAC that has effectively taken over Mr. DeSantis’s presidential campaign posted online hundreds of pages of blunt advice, research memos and internal polling in early nominating states to guide the Florida governor ahead of the high-stakes Republican presidential debate next Wednesday in Milwaukee.
…
“There are four basic must-dos,” one of the memos urges Mr. DeSantis, whom the document refers to as “GRD.”
“1. Attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times. 2. State GRD’s positive vision 2-3 times. 3. Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response. 4. Defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack.”
Ramaswamy recently overtook DeSantis for second place in a Kaplan Strategies poll; he is third but rising in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
