Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) claimed a leaked memo that appeared to lay out a strategy for him to follow in next week’s Republican primary debate is not his.
The memo was posted to strategy firm Axiom’s website by the governor’s super PAC, Never Back Down, and laid out the primary goals for DeSantis in the Republican National Committee’s debate on Aug. 23. It was promptly deleted from the site, but not before it made news.
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“Well on the memo, it’s not mine,” DeSantis told Fox News Digital. “I haven’t read it.”
The memo read: “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.” It also recommended that GRD, believed to stand for “Gov. Ron DeSantis,” be “likeable” and “show emotion.”
“If you look really in the last six to nine months I’ve been more attacked than anybody else. Biden, Harris, the media, the Left, other Republican candidates, and there’s a reason for that because people know that I’m the biggest threat,” DeSantis said. “So we view it as positive feedback, we’ll be ready to do what we need to do to deliver our message.”
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Besides DeSantis, other Republican candidates for the White House include former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, former Texas Rep. Will Hurd, Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, political commentator Larry Elder, businessman Perry Johnson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy. DeSantis, Ramaswamy, Burgum, Haley, and Scott have qualified for the debate and signed the RNC’s loyalty pledge, and Pence and Christie have said they will also sign it.
In order to qualify for the debate, candidates must be polling at a minimum of 1% and have at least 40,000 individual donations to their campaign. Candidates have until Monday to qualify.
