Ron DeSantis’ Super PAC, Never Back Down, Continues Its Spiral Into Chaos

Even before Ron DeSantis‘ ambitions as a presidential candidate started to collapse, there were those who noticed dangerous flaws in his political operation, the super PAC Never Back Down.

The DeSantis campaign thought they figured out how to beat former President Donald Trump.

Never Back Down was launched as a super PAC created to carry DeSantis to the presidency through sheer force. The super PAC had a war chest of $80 million, which was transferred from DeSantis’ state-level PAC back in Florida.

After spending months remaining out of sync with the campaign, many officials associated with Never Back Down have either resigned or were fired.

The top PAC strategists swore and almost started fighting each other in private meetings. On top of that, a new breakaway PAC has formed.

DeSantis is having trouble maintaining even second place as the Iowa and New Hampshire contests near, even with the nearly $100 million that his PAC has spent to support him.

Now, the governor’s supporters are considering the consequences of his team’s big bet that they could outsource a huge primary victory to a super PAC.

Despite how dysfunctional Never Back Down is many Republicans pointed to DeSantis as a inherently flawed candidate, someone even the most well-funded operation can have only taken so far.

The group’s most recently accessible financial disclosures state that from the beginning of the year until late June, the PAC spent $96.8 million.

After burning through $34 million in the campaign’s beginning months, the PAC’s then-CEO, Chris Jankowski, needed to release a memo in August to calm down donors concerned about overspending.

However, donors began losing respect for DeSantis.

The first round of layoffs hit the campaign on July 25, accounting for one-third of the original headcount. This put more pressure on Never Back Down staff to carry the burden.

But things have not gotten any better for DeSantis.

He is sliding behind former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley for the mantle of top Trump alternative in the primary.

Now, Never Back Down staffers are wondering where their next paycheck will come from.

In late November, DeSantis attacked Trump for his “cognitive decline” citing 24 recent misstatements.

Even rapper Azaelia Banks ridiculed DeSantis for his feud with Disney earlier this year.