Steve Cortes, a top spokesperson for the premiere Ron DeSantis super PAC, spoke candidly in a Twitter Space about his preferred candidate’s long shot odds at becoming the Republican Party’s nominee for president in 2024.
Cortes, who served on the 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns of 45th President Donald Trump before endorsing DeSantis and being hired by the Never Back Down PAC earlier this year, made the stark remarks during a Twitter Space on Sunday night, according to Politico.
The political operative described the DeSantis campaign as an “uphill battle” and the candidate as the “clear underdog” as the country lurches toward primary season.
“Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” Cortes admitted. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”
Still, he cited polling in early battleground states as a ray of hope for DeSantis supporters: “In the first four states which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down. We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”
Though animosity between the Trump and DeSantis camps seems to be ratcheting up, Cortes repeatedly praised his former boss and said that a tough primary process would ultimately help Trump.
‘We are way behind’: Top DeSantis PAC official sounds alarm
“Steve Cortes, who previously supported Donald Trump, also heaped praise on Trump, calling him a ‘runaway frontrunner’ and ‘maestro’ of the debate.”
LMAO even team DeSantis knows Rod is toast!https://t.co/n9KNF8Gf6h
— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) July 3, 2023
“If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” said Cortez.
Underscoring his support for DeSantis, who he called the “next natural evolution” of Trump’s movement, he asserted that “since 2020” Trump “has not gained any voters, but he has shed quite a few,”
Still, Cortes admitted that Trump could potentially trounce DeSantis on the debate stage.
“Is Ron the debater that Trump is?” he said. “No, no he isn’t.” He added that “Donald Trump is the maestro of it right, no doubt about it.”
“When he gets on the debate stage, you know, and on his feet, in front of a microphone, he debates like Jack Nicklaus played golf, there’s no doubt about it,”
Politico reports that the Twitter Space was hosted by @CryptoLawyerz, an anonymous Twitter account popular among conservatives.
