\n<\/p>\n
Once upon a time, Ron DeSantis<\/strong> was seen a the future<\/a> of the Republican Party\u2014not just an heir<\/a> to Donald Trump<\/strong> but the guy who was going to break the ex-president\u2019s iron grip on the GOP and handily win the 2024 nomination. Of course, these predictions happened well before the Florida governor ultimately announced he was officially running for president\u2014that is before he had to actually get out on the campaign trail, interact with people outside of his home state, and make the case for why he is qualified to run the country. And since he has, his odds of making it to the White House have taken an absolute nosedive.<\/p>\n How badly are things looking for DeSantis these days? So bad that a person whose job is to literally get the guy elected is out here talking about uphill battles, as in the uphill battle to get DeSantis elected.<\/p>\n Yes, during an interview on Twitter Spaces on Sunday\u2014the same forum in which DeSantis formally announced<\/a> his candidacy in late May\u2014Steve Cortes,<\/strong> a Trump adviser turned national spokesman for the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down super PAC, said<\/a>: \u201cI believe in being really blunt and really honest. It\u2019s an uphill battle.\u201d He added: \u201cRight now, in national polling, we are way behind. I\u2019ll be the first to admit that.\u201d One recent poll revealed<\/a> just 16% of voters would cast a ballot for DeSantis if the GOP primary were being held \u201ctoday\u201d (the survey took place between June 26 and June 29), versus 49% of respondents saying they\u2019d go with Trump. Perhaps even more alarmingly\u2014if your goal is for DeSantis to become president*\u2014is the fact that Vivek Ramaswamy<\/strong> is trailing the governor by just six points.<\/p>\n Despite apparently understanding how poorly things are going for DeSantis, Cortes nevertheless insisted that his candidate has a shot, albeit a very, very long one. \u201cIn the first four states\u2014which matter tremendously\u2014polls are a lot tighter. We\u2019re clearly still down. We\u2019re down in double digits. We have work to do. We have wood to chop,\u201d Cortes said Sunday. He also theorized that prospective voters simply don\u2019t know Ron well enough, and will start changing their tunes once he becomes less of a mystery to them. \u201cI\u2019m of the belief that once we really get his story out there\u2014and thankfully, we have the resources to do that, he\u2019s campaigning with just frenetic pace already\u2014so I think once we get that out there, my view is that we\u2019re going to close this gap. I\u2019m of the firm view that this is a two-man race,\u201d Cortes said.<\/p>\n (Of course, the flip side of that argument is that people have already gotten to know DeSantis, and don\u2019t like him, hence his dwindling poll numbers. And it\u2019s possible they don\u2019t like him because of (1) his stupid fight with Disney<\/a>, (2) his highly restrictive abortion ban that has\u00a0reportedly<\/a>\u00a0even given GOP mega-donor\u00a0Ken Griffin<\/strong>\u00a0pause, (3) his obsession<\/a>\u00a0with<\/a>\u00a0attacking<\/a>\u00a0the LGBTQ+ community, (4) his migrant-shipping political stunts<\/a> and (5) the fact that, in the words of one former GOP lawmaker, \u201cHe\u2019s an asshole<\/a>.\u201d Among, y\u2019know, many other things<\/a>.)<\/p>\n Hilariously, during the event on Twitter, Cortes pointed to Trump\u2019s recent state and federal indictments as explanations for his lead (which he\u2019s probably not wrong about<\/a>).<\/p>\n In response to a request for comment from CNN about his remarks, Cortes said: \u201cThe former president has debated through two successive presidential cycles, so of course he possesses a lot of experience in that arena. But I am convinced that Governor DeSantis will outperform expectations and inform large audiences about his amazing life, political record, and winning agenda for the presidency.\u201d<\/p>\n *To be clear, this<\/em> should not be anyone\u2019s goal<\/em><\/a>, nor should it be their goal to reelect<\/em> President Bubonic Plague<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n If you would like to receive the Levin Report in your inbox daily, click<\/em> here<\/em><\/a> to subscribe.<\/em><\/p>\n In which Donald Trump suggests the cocaine found in the White House was for Joe Biden\u2019s use<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cDoes anybody really believe that the COCAINE found in the West Wing of the White House, very close to the Oval Office, is for the use of anyone other than Hunter & Joe Biden,\u201d Trump asked<\/a> his Truth Social followers on Wednesday. \u201cBut watch, the Fake News Media will soon start saying that the amount found was \u201cvery small,\u201d & it wasn\u2019t really COCAINE, but rather common ground up Aspirin, & the story will vanish. Has Deranged Jack Smith, the crazy, Trump hating Special Prosecutor, been seen in the area of the COCAINE? He looks like a crackhead to me!\u201d<\/p>\n Speaking to Politico on Wednesday, a law enforcement official said<\/a> it will be extremely difficult\u2014if not impossible\u2014to determine who brought the drugs into the White House. \u201cEven if there were surveillance cameras, unless you were waving it around, it may not have been caught\u201d on tape, the person said. \u201cIt\u2019s a bit of a thoroughfare. People walk by there all the time.\u201d Suffice to say, they did not suggest that the 80-year-old president was going to use it to do rails off the Resolute Desk. (As for the Hunter Biden<\/strong> of it all, as New York<\/em> magazine writes<\/a>: \u201cOne should give Hunter Biden the benefit of the doubt here. By all accounts, he has stuck with sobriety over the last four years despite the glaring\u00a0national spotlight on his past behavior. But a younger version of Hunter was very much the type to think he could get away with such a move\u2014and then totally not get away with it. There is one element working in his favor:\u00a0He was at Camp David\u00a0over the weekend, only arriving at the White House on\u00a0Tuesday\u00a0for fireworks with his dad. That should be a sound enough alibi, even if betting websites has him as the\u00a0odds-on favorite.\u201d)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n