Ron DeSantis rips move to ‘rig’ Nevada caucuses

Florida’s Governor seems to believe the cards are stacked against him in an early caucus state.

Ron DeSantis told Iowa reporters that Nevada was “supposed to have a Primary in February” but that power brokers changed it to a caucus for the benefit of the former President and Republican front-runner, Donald Trump.

“The state party changed it to a caucus. The state party people are basically trying to rig it for Trump. And so the delegates are going to be done on the caucus,” DeSantis said. That caucus is expected to attract more conservative Republicans who are more likely to be Trump supporters than the wider GOP electorate.

Rival Nikki Haley will participate in the nonbinding Nevada Primary, a decision DeSantis said showed she wasn’t really trying to win the nomination, suggesting she’s a stalking horse for Trump

“Incidentally, Nikki Haley is doing the Nevada Primary where she has no chance to win delegates. I’m doing the Nevada caucus. So we’re going to win delegates in Nevada. And I think if you plan to win the nomination, why would you not compete to win delegates? Especially when it’s proportional allocation. So I think that shows, you know, her strategy is not really to win,” the Governor said.

Polling suggests that as lopsided as a Trump win in Nevada might be in the caucuses, a popular vote wouldn’t have been much better for DeSantis.

A November Morning Consult poll shows Trump leading the Governor, 67% to 10%. An October survey commissioned by the Republican Main Street Partnership and Women2Women and conducted by The Tarrance Group, showed Trump leading, 60% to 11%. Another recent poll of 650 likely Nevada Republican caucusgoers from CNN shows the Florida Governor with 13% support, with Trump at 65%.

Meanwhile, DeSantis’ former roommate Adam Laxalt recently left the Never Back Down super PAC, in what seems like foreshadowing for disappointment.

If there is a positive, meanwhile, it’s that Nevada is numerically insignificant, with 26 delegates, roughly 1% of the GOP total.