WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — A leaked memo from a political action committee that supports Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for president outlined how he should handle specific candidates in the upcoming GOP debate.
Among other things, the memo outlined “four basic must-dos.” They call for DeSantis to defend former President Donald Trump “in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack” and “hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response.” It also recommended attacking President Joe Biden multiple times.
The two-page memo, dated Aug. 15, was written by the leaders of the pro-DeSantis “Never Back Down” PAC.
Ramaswamy, a biotech entrepreneur, was once a long-shot candidate but has been moving in the polls as DeSantis’ numbers have floundered lately. Ramaswamy called it “another boring, establishment” plan.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said Friday that he has qualified for next week’s Republican presidential debate and would become the ninth White House hopeful to meet the fundraising and polling thresholds required to participate in the opening faceoff of the 2024 campaign.
“The poor guy can’t get out of his own way. You see the leaked memo? It’s just one misstep after another,” Suarez said of DeSantis, suggesting that DeSantis’ divisive approach to leadership would be further exposed during the debate.
NewsNation reached out to “Never Back Down” for a comment. They referred questions on the matter to PAC official Ken Cuccinelli’s comments in Semafor.
“It’s an information dump, publicly, and the risk of doing that is you’re sharing it with everybody,” Cuccinelli said. “And we’re okay. You know, it’s not preferred, but we’re always going to stay legal.”
The New York Times, citing several people briefed on the matter, reports that Trump does not plan on attending the debate but will instead sit for an interview with former Fox News personality Tucker Carlson.
Trump had been threatening to boycott the event for weeks. He argues that it makes little sense for someone so far ahead in the polls — at this point — to subject himself to the inevitable onslaught of attacks.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.