Ron DeSantis now claims campaign staff cuts were a matter of ‘ROI’

DeSantis Fox
'Ultimately, we'll make money off it doing it that way.'

Florida’s Governor is framing the firing of dozens of staffers from his campaign this month as a matter of “return on the investment.”

Ron DeSantis said Monday that he made “changes” given that there wasn’t “value” in some of the things being done ahead of recent staff cuts.

“You do need to have a return on the investment. And so, we have a little bit of a different structure. We don’t pay consultants; we hire people to work in-house. So, some of the reasons we may have some more is because we’re just bearing those costs,” DeSantis said.

He defended the structure further.

“Ultimately, we’ll make money off it doing it that way. It’s just a different model … but some of the other stuff, if there isn’t value in it, then I get changes, and then that’s just the reality of what you have to do. So, I’m not a political operative; I’m not a campaign professional. You know, you set out the vision, and you execute on it, and if it’s not being executed, you just make the course correction.”

DeSantis commented Monday on Fox NewsSpecial Report” during an interview with Bret Baier.

He has had to discuss the staff cuts before.

“We had a campaign for a nationwide election which will happen eventually, but that’s not how the Primaries are. So, we’re shifting resources to the early states,” DeSantis told Clay Travis.

“We don’t need to be too top-heavy in Tallahassee. So Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, you know, we’re going to be spending the vast majority of our time in those states,” DeSantis continued. “We have the best ground game by far right now.”

DeSantis went on to frame the staff cuts as “a recognition that you want the resources applied where the delegates are allocated. At the end of the day, you’re winning a majority of the delegates. That’s the goal. It’s not a nationwide vote, it’s a state-by-state vote, and you need to have an organization to reflect that.”

A.G. Gancarski

A.G. Gancarski has been the Northeast Florida correspondent for Florida Politics since 2014. He writes for the New York Post and National Review also, with previous work in the American Conservative and Washington Times and a 15+ year run as a columnist in Folio Weekly. He can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter: @AGGancarski


13 comments

  • Shelby justice

    July 31, 2023 at 6:53 pm

    It’s a shame that our governor isn’t working for the taxpayers in Florida

    • Dont Say FLA

      July 31, 2023 at 7:24 pm

      Paying him is a waste of money, and it’s a shame to waste perfectly good money like that, but it’s better for Florida that Rhonda isn’t actively governing Florida these days while he’s out on Casey’s snipe hunt or whatever it is that he’s doing.

      It’s going to be pure hell on everyone once Raging Rhonda returns.

      • My Take

        July 31, 2023 at 8:09 pm

        Raging REJECTED Rhonda.

  • tom palmer

    July 31, 2023 at 9:12 pm

    He’s right. No sense in pouring money into a losing campaign

  • PeterH

    July 31, 2023 at 10:07 pm

    Long time Republican Political consultant Edward Rollins stated today that Ron DeSantis is a “flawed candidate!”

    Last week Kelly Ann Conway stated that Ton DeSantis has destroyed his 2028 chances at the Oval Office. DeSantis is finished!

    • My Take

      August 1, 2023 at 12:07 am

      Woe is Florida for the next several years.

      • Dont Say FLA

        August 1, 2023 at 7:47 am

        Let us give our thoughts and prayers that FLorida’s state legislature takes a moment, envisions their future upon the return of Rejected Raging Rhonda, undoes their mistake, and forces Rhonda to stop identifying every payday as Florida’s Governor.

  • Dont Say FLA

    August 1, 2023 at 7:49 am

    Rhonda and his acronyms. ROI, DEI, JOI, and his area of focus, CEI.

    • Michael K

      August 1, 2023 at 9:39 am

      All DOA.

      • Dont Say FLA

        August 1, 2023 at 4:07 pm

        I dunno. I heard Rhonda has quite the accumulation of CEI training videos and is actually pretty good at that

  • Ron's Donors

    August 1, 2023 at 8:22 am

    It can’t be much longer before Ron’s donors make the same conclusion regarding their own ROI. The GOP nominee is Trump. Trump’s voters will vote for Trump even if he is deceased. Trump voters will believe his death was greatly exaggerated. A hoax, if you will.

  • Michael K

    August 1, 2023 at 9:41 am

    Of course, everything with Little D is strictly in transactional terms. Public policy is much more complicated, and nuanced, leveraged and balanced. It’s not strictly a “bottom line.” And therein lies the problem with Mr “my way or the highway.”

  • KD

    August 1, 2023 at 1:13 pm

    More lies from DeSantis mouth. He’ll say whatever he has to I. Order to cover up bad judgements he’s made in his campaign in addition to all the bad judgments and costs he caused to Floridians. His salary for one was and is a wasted cost.

    He’s ruined the state with all his legislation and continues ti spread lies about how wonderful he made it to the Amerucans across the country as ge vows for a presidential nominee. That defibately would ruin the country!!

    He’s done so much dMafe to FL that it will take years to recover for tge next governor.

    I can’t wait til He’s no longer governor and wait to see how he loses the nomination for president. He’s another narcissistic bully……. sound familiar?

Comments are closed.


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