A driving force in Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) presidential campaign resigned from his post as the CEO of a DeSantis-aligned super political action committee on Wednesday following disagreements between the committee and the governor’s 2024 campaign.
Chris Jankowski, who led DeSantis’s Never Back Down PAC, sent his resignation to the PAC’s board and said the resignation was effective immediately.
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“Never Back Down’s main goal and sole focus has been to elect Governor Ron DeSantis as President. Given the current environment it has become untenable for me to deliver on the shared goal and that goes well beyond a difference of strategic opinion,” Jankowski told CBS News in a statement. “For the future of our country I support and pray Ron DeSantis is our 47th president.”
The most recent clash occurred last week during a meeting between the PAC’s board and senior staff in Atlanta. Tensions escalated to a shouting match between Never Back Down strategist Jeff Roe and longtime DeSantis supporter Scott Wagner over the direction of the super PAC, sources told NBC News.
The reported inner turmoil spurned a new super PAC called Fight Right, which was created by three other allies of the Republican governor. One of the discussion points at the meeting last week was over a $1 million transfer to the new PAC, which would air attack ads against former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, DeSantis’s primary GOP opponent in challenging former President Donald Trump for the nomination.
One of those new ads, which aired in Iowa last week, compared the former governor to former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. However, the ads have since been removed after the PAC’s leadership determined the spot was hurting DeSantis.
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DeSantis and Haley are both attempting to garner enough support to be the sole alternative to Trump for the Republican nomination. Trump is currently holding a significant lead in the race, but polling suggests Haley and DeSantis both pose a legitimate threat to President Joe Biden in the general election if they manage to become the party’s nominee.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to DeSantis’s 2024 campaign for comment.
