The Governor of Florida and 2024 presidential candidate denied ownership of the leaked detailed memo guiding his act in the first Republican debate scheduled for Aug. 23, 2023, after coming to media attention.
Why is DeSantis’ debate note controversial?
Here you have the details.
Ron DeSantis Leaked Debate Memo Controversy Explained
As the 2024 presidential candidates prepare for the first Republican debate, That of the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis Debate prep notes made headlines last week.
The leaked detailed memo that included hundreds of pages was reportedly posted on the website of Axiom Strategies, a consulting firm owned by Jeff Roe, chief strategist of Never Back Down, a DeSantis-backing Super Pac.
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The memo includes internal research and polls to serve as a debate guide for DeSantis. It tells the governor what needs to be done to get the public’s attention during the debate. The released documents contain a detailed analysis of how each presidential candidate should act in the field of debate and attack DeSantis.
The memo advised DeSantis four must-have special acts in the debate. He mentions that the governor of Florida should “attack President Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times, state the positive view of GRD 2-3 times, Hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response, defends the former president donald trump in absentia in response to a former New Jersey Governor chris christi attack.”
The strategy note did not mention any policies and mainly advised the governor of Florida to refrain from discussing specific solutions, as it would not help him attract media attention.
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Along with an overall strategy for the debate, the memo also revealed the financial shortfall the DeSantis campaign faced after spending the maximum funds in the first half of the quarter. The memo reflects the “remarkable extent” to which his campaign depends on his Super PAC, which raised $130 million in the first half of the year.
DeSantis appeared embarrassed by the leaked documents when he denied ownership of the memo during an interview on Saturday. THE Florida The governor said, “On the memo, it’s not mine. I haven’t read it. It’s just something we have and put aside.
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DeSantis saw himself as the biggest threat that had come under frequent attack. He said: “When you go over the mark, that’s when you get the most criticism. If you really look, in the last 6-9 months I’ve been attacked more than anyone. People know I’m the biggest threat.
Similarly, DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said his campaign was unaware of the memo after it leaked on Thursday, while calling the Florida governor the strongest presidential candidate.
Romeo said, “This was not a campaign memo, and we didn’t know about it until the article was published. We are used to attacks from all sides as the media and other candidates realize that Ron DeSantis is the strongest and best positioned candidate to unseat Joe Biden.
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DeSantis ranks second in national polls for the Republican 2024 appointment after Trump. In many polls, the Florida governor appears tied with another rising presidential candidate and biotech entrepreneur, Vivek Ramaswamy, for whom the memo called on DeSantis to “take a hammer.”
What’s wrong with leaked DeSantis debate memo?
As a general rule, Political Action Committees (PACs) are prohibited by law from coordinating privately with political campaigns and from developing strategies that guide the candidate to act in certain ways when running for office.
To avoid violations of this law, PACs continually post online memos, poll results, and materials in support of their favorite campaign.
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Although posting such documents is risky because the media and other opposition leaders can see them and can easily learn the candidate’s agenda, super PACs justify this act to communicate important information to their candidates from support without breaking the law.
But in DeSantis’ case, the memo was released by a consulting firm working for a super PAC supporting DeSantis’ presidential campaign, which is unusual.
As a result, the law has been heavily criticized, questioning the law’s validity. The legality of these companies posting detailed, multi-page political strategy papers online outlining how a presidential candidate should act against other candidates in the first Republican debate has become controversial.
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When media contacted Never Back Down for comment on Thursday, the company removed a key memo from the website and summarized the strategy for the debate. The “missing key memo” in the detailed documents allegedly discussed Trump and highlighted his past attacks on DeSantis.
However, all of the published documents were quickly deleted when the “leaked memo” discussion took up most of the news.
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