Pro-DeSantis PAC positions Florida governor as successor to Trump

A super PAC that is calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) to run for president released a new advertisement on Friday, presenting him as the GOP successor to former President Trump in 2024.

The Never Back Down PAC, which former senior Trump administration official Ken Cuccinelli founded to urge DeSantis to run, called the ad “Winner,” presenting DeSantis as the future of the Republican Party. 

The ad incorporates remarks from speeches DeSantis has given declaring Florida to be a “citadel of freedom” and where “woke goes to die.” 

It also shows a picture of three newspaper covers. The first one on the left shows one from the Des Moines Register with a picture of Trump and the headline “He’s hired.” 

The camera then focuses on two on the right, centering on one from The Naples Daily News, a local Florida paper, that has the headline “DeSantis does it” and one from The New York Post that says “DeFuture.” 

“Decline is a choice, and freedom is worth fighting for,” DeSantis says, as a video of two people placing a “DeSantis 2024” sign in their lawn is shown. 

The ad then shows a man placing a “DeSantis for President” sticker on top of a “Trump 2016” sticker on his vehicle. 

“Here I stand. I’m not backing down,” the ad concludes. 

The ad was first shared with ABC News. 

ABC reported that Never Back Down will show it in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the four states that vote first during the Republican nominating process. 

Never Back Down launched another ad earlier this month attacking Trump as a “gun-grabber” over comments he has made in the past endorsing gun control measures. 

DeSantis has not formally announced whether he is considering a run for the presidency in 2024, but multiple news outlets have reported that he is planning to get in the race in the coming weeks. NBC News reported that he would join next month, while Bloomberg reported that he would join in June. 

DeSantis said on Thursday that the reports on his plans are “inaccurate,” as he has not made any plans for a possible campaign launch event.