A top advisor for Never Back Down, the Super PAC supporting Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign, privately admitted to spreading negative information about rival candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Politico reports.
Hours before the first Republican primary debate in August, Never Back Down strategist Jeff Roe bragged to donors that the Super PAC was spreading opposition research on Vivek Ramaswamy. (RELATED: Persecutions Through Prosecution’: Vivek Ramaswamy Explains Why He’d Support Trump Even If He Gets Convicted)
“Everything you read about him is from us,” Roe said in an audio recording obtained by Politico. “Every misstatement, every 360 he’s conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure. And so, he’s not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him.”
Roe also conceded to donors that Ramaswamy performing well in the debate could hurt the DeSantis campaign. Never Back Down had released a memo prior to the debate outlining DeSantis’ strategy for going after Ramaswamy. The Super PAC did not respond to Politico’s request for comment.
The attacks on me felt manufactured & now we learn that they absolutely were. “Everything you read about him is from us,” says the DeSantis Monster PAC to its donors. I don’t hold it against @RonDeSantis. I don’t even hold it against Jeff Roe – who visited my house in February to… https://t.co/4DXebJ23am
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) September 3, 2023
“The attacks on me felt manufactured & now we learn that they absolutely were,” Ramaswamy tweeted after Politico’s story went live. “They’re just playing their roles in a badly broken & corrupt political system.”
Ramaswamy drew significant attention after the Republican debate because of heated exchanges he had with former Vice President Pence, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley. The 38-year-old’s name got the most Google searches of any candidate and Ramaswamy himself said he performed better than he expected.
A poll taken by the Washington Post, FiveThirty Eight and Ipsos found DeSantis and Ramaswamy performed the best in the eyes of Republican voters. Former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner to win the Republican nomination, was not present at the debate.