https://www.semafor.com/article/12/18/2022/how-a-pro-desantis-group-is-planning-to-take-down-donald-trumpA super PAC urging Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to run for president in 2024 is gearing up to take on Donald Trump in the new year by any means necessary.
“Ron to the Rescue,” founded by Republican strategist John Thomas, emerged just after the midterms with an ad declaring that “America needs Ron DeSantis” and pitching his success as Joe Biden’s failure to keep a good state down. But they’re also preparing to go on offense with ads and coordinated media campaigns if the cold war between Ron and Don turns into a hot one.
“We’re not afraid to take the gloves off,” Thomas told Semafor. “If the former president decides to get nasty with DeSantis, the governor has shown a level of discipline I admire and not responding to those kinds of things, but somebody needs to and so we will defend the governor and not be afraid to do it.”
He added that “it doesn't matter if it's Democrats unfairly attacking him, if it's Mike Pompeo or Mike Pence, it literally doesn't matter.”
Thomas isn’t a “Never Trumper,” he insisted, nor is he a blind DeSantis superfan. In fact, as recently as August he thought the Florida governor shouldn’t run for president after the FBI searched Mar-a-Lago and the party seemed to be rallying back to Trump’s side. The midterm results, which featured a strong performance by DeSantis and a series of losses among Trump-backed candidates, convinced him it was time to go all-in.
Excerpt.