Former President Donald Trump is aiming at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' expected presidential campaign before it's declared through personal attacks and an advertising blitz targeting DeSantis on two of his strongest arguments: Florida's economy and how he handled the pandemic.
Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller told Bloomberg that with Trump's surges in the polls gaining "a massive amount of focus, this is the opportunity to reengage previous supporters and lock in new supporters before DeSantis even gets his plane off the ground."
Trump is to speak to Republicans in Florida on Friday night, and, according to allies, he will remind local officials about how he turned some swing states red. He'll also be speaking out about DeSantis' record.
DeSantis, meanwhile, is to speak to the Heritage Foundation's 50th anniversary summit outside Washington, D.C.
Several polls are showing Trump coming out ahead in contests with DeSantis, including one released Friday from The Wall Street Journal showing Trump ahead 51% to 38% among GOP primary voters.
While DeSantis' allies are saying he has not decided whether to run, Trump's advertising buys indicate the former president's campaign is seeing matters differently, with paid advertisements from a Trump-linked super PAC attacking DeSantis for supporting cuts to Medicare and Social Security while he was in Congress.
Trump also has been mocking DeSantis in his speeches and social media posts, and he and his aids have been locking up support from Republican lawmakers in Florida.
"It's working, and you don't need to look any further than the totality of the polls. Trump has momentum," said Florida-based Republican strategist Ford O'Connell, a surrogate for the Trump White House and 2020 campaign.
However, Dave Abrams, a spokesperson for the DeSantis political team said the "inordinate amount of time" spent on attacks on the governor only reveals his strengths and the weakness of others.
And though DeSantis hasn't announced yet, a super PAC supporting him has hired workers in early voting states and has mailed out information about him, his family, his military service, and his voting record.
DeSantis is also benefiting from Trump's focus to boost his standing as the most viable challenger for the former president. That is showing in the polls, as no other Republican candidate or potential candidate is netting better than single digits.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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