Republican political strategist Ed Rollins described Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who’s running for president in 2024, as a “very flawed candidate” in a new interview published this weekend.
“I don’t think it’s the campaign’s fault at all; it’s his … I think he’s been a very flawed candidate. I know some of the people around him, and some of them are good, talented people,” Rollins said in an interview with Rolling Stone.
“But every time he opens his mouth, he has a tendency to — shall we say — think out-loud, and he clearly doesn’t understand the game,” Rollins added. “When you get into these culture wars the way that he has, the vast majority of people don’t understand what they are.”
Rollins said he is “not involved” in efforts to elect DeSantis, after previously serving as co-chair of the Ready for Ron PAC, which encouraged DeSantis to enter the 2024 race last year. Rollins also co-chaired the pro-Trump Great America PAC.
Rollins said in the interview that “at this point in time,” he would be “shocked if Trump were not the nominee.” He predicted President Biden will win reelection “unless something serious happens.”
Rollins’s comments come as DeSantis’s campaign struggles to regain its footing after facing stagnant poll numbers and financial challenges that have contributed to a recent reorganization of his campaign.
DeSantis’s campaign raised an impressive $20.1 million in the second quarter, but only 14 percent of those campaign contributions came from small-dollar donors, creating a potential cause for concern.
DeSantis’s financial records also showed his campaign has been going through cash quickly — spending nearly $8 million last quarter. The Hill reported last week that the campaign laid off 38 staffers — nearly a third of its staff — over the last several weeks.
Still, supporters of DeSantis see these issues as growing pains that he can overcome, as his campaign plans a reboot.
“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden. Governor DeSantis is going to lead the Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign,” DeSantis’s campaign manager Generra Peck said in a statement last week.
In the latest Morning Consult poll, support for DeSantis continues to lag at only 16 percent. Former President Trump, the front-runner to win the Republican nomination, had the support of 59 percent of GOP voters surveyed.