Today, there were many breathless headlines about a Super PAC formerly supporting Ron DeSantis shifting its support to Donald Trump. The reasons given were DeSantis' shaky launch on Twitter Spaces and other campaign errors. It certainly sounded like really bad news for Team DeSantis who will need all the money they can get to fight the primary.
BREAKING: A Super-PAC that was set up to support Ron Desantis with over $50 million is shutting down. According to the leadership they’re upset with all of the rookie mistakes the campaign has made.
— 🇺🇸Travis🇺🇸 (@Travis_in_Flint) August 31, 2023
Once again DC insiders are realizing that this is the party of Donald Trump…
EXCLUSIVE: Ron DeSantis super PAC FOLDS: - and founder flips to Trump https://t.co/lSgSYQL2xq via @MailOnline
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) August 31, 2023
A super PAC set up to back Ron DeSantis with $50 million is closing as donors backed out - while its founder said the Florida governor's campaign was guilty of 'rookie s**t' mistakes and he will now back Donald Trump.
John Thomas, a Republican strategist known as the 'Billy the Kid of Political Battles' set up 'Ron to the Rescue' in November and had secured financial commitments from mega-wealthy donors.
But he said the donors began having second thoughts after the botched DeSantis campaign launch on Twitter Spaces in May.
JUST IN: Governor Ron DeSantis' $50 million super PAC is shutting down as donors are beginning to jump ship.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) August 31, 2023
According to the Daily Mail, the super PAC will now be backing Donald Trump after they accused the governor of making "rookie s***" mistakes.
The super PAC was set up by… pic.twitter.com/ecBsrFQycF
Pretty discouraging news for the DeSantis camp for sure ... or is it? Rob Pyers, tech genius and campaign data savant, dug into the PAC's financial data and found some interesting information.
lol...I guess it's a more eye-catching headline than 'Unauthorized DeSantis ScamPAC that paid its founder 75% of the $1,621 it raised folds, will now support Trump with the $57 dollars it has left' pic.twitter.com/pAapDkmCJh
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) August 31, 2023
(also, not the first time that the PAC's founder over-promised and under-delivered)https://t.co/o1XNMbXsoy pic.twitter.com/5WQoG3YReh
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) August 31, 2023
Whoops...was looking at the 2022 year-end report, not the most recent 2023 mid-year report.
— Rob Pyers (@rpyers) August 31, 2023
The remaining cash available to support Trump is $0, not $57.
Mea culpa.https://t.co/F3E9rNJ3IF pic.twitter.com/XYMI587jhp
So apparently this 'mega' PAC had raised a bit over $1500 and they already spent it without donating to ANY candidate.
Fake PAC, fake story. Debunked. https://t.co/tTQlhymFzf
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 31, 2023
As of the most recent report (2023 mid year) this ScamPAC - that was never associated with DeSantis in any way - has a grand total of.... ZERO dollars on-hand. I don't think that's going to make much of a dent. The only "rookie mistake" here was made by @_phillipsmorgan 😬 https://t.co/Zat8d9Ac5t
— Christina Pushaw 🐊 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) August 31, 2023
Christina Pushaw and Bryan Griffin, both part of DeSantis' campaign communications staff, both confirmed Pyers reporting.
You will be shocked to learn that this is completely bogus and the usual suspects fell for it. The guy behind this PAC is a scam artist that never got anywhere near DeSantis.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) August 31, 2023
He claimed he had a secret $50M in commitments, but actually raised $291.01 this year. (Ht @rpyers) https://t.co/cvLCTao035 pic.twitter.com/x75AUSMCYb
🚨LOOK! Trump World is claiming a $50 Million Super PAC abandoned Ron DeSantis but when you go to the FEC report for “Ron to the Rescue” (sounds made up) the guy only had a couple hundred bucks.
— Chris Nelson 🇺🇸 🏝 (@ReOpenChris) August 31, 2023
Anything to take attention away from DeSantis’s incredible hurricane response. pic.twitter.com/wMXaP5MsyG
Apparently, some people associated with the PAC had previous fraud allegations when they allegedly did not supply masks as contracted during the pandemic.
NEW: GOP operatives launched BLUE FLAME MEDICAL to provide PPE through a connection to a Chinese-state-owned firm.
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) May 6, 2020
Blue Flame received $$$ from state & local gov'ts, but didn't deliver the PPE.
Now it's under federal investigation & facing refund demands https://t.co/YIT1lyteAd
Sigh. This seems like many layers. In any case, this story seems like a big nothing burger. It's tempting to jump on a story supporting your particular preferences. This is just another reminder to check the backstory before sharing.
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