A.G. Gancarski
An architect of Donald Trump’s third campaign for President confirms that Trump drove the decision to be aggressive against a major challenger in the GOP field and how that informed the entire campaign.
“The boss announces right after the ’22 cycle, which didn’t end well for anyone. And we were looking at the announcement and then going into the Primaries, and the whole focus up to that point was about how great of an opponent Ron DeSantis could be,” recounted Chris LaCivita on “The Ruthless Podcast” Tuesday.
Per LaCivita, he and Susie Wiles got marching orders from Trump “right out of the gate.”
“We’re going to hit him. And Susie and I are like, ‘In January?’ Yeah, right. And he’s like, ‘In January,'” the consultant related. “And we’re like, OK, we know how to do that. And that really, I thought, you know, set the stage for just the overall disposition that the campaign would take from that point to the very end, which is it’s going to be constant.”
Indeed, it was constant. Trump mocked “Ron DeSanctimonious” while his campaign and supportive Super PAC pushed narratives that included a story of DeSantis eating pudding with his fingers that became fodder for an ad.
DeSantis folded his campaign after a disappointing finish in Iowa, a state his operation made its first and last stand in before withdrawing as polls plummeted in New Hampshire. But the Governor continued to weigh in on Trump’s campaign, telling supporters he worried that “identity politics” would drive Trump’s pick of a running mate.
LaCivita was unsparing in response, saying, “Chicken fingers and pudding cups is what you will be remembered for, you sad little man.”
