Political prostitute RONALD DION DeSANTIS, our feculent fetid furious former Congressman from St. Johns County, 2013-2018, who was first anointed and then rejected by GQP, TRUMP and KOCH Industries, limps into N.H. by firing his staff and cutting off their computers. From The New York Times:
Shake-Up by a Desperate DeSantis Opens Wider Path for Haley in New Hampshire
Ron DeSantis’s super PAC began layoffs on the same day he signaled he would largely bypass New Hampshire’s primary election and train his efforts on South Carolina.
Straining to recover after a bruising defeat in Iowa, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and his allies moved on Wednesday to shake up his operation yet again, with his super PAC carrying out layoffs and the campaign signaling that it would largely bypass New Hampshire’s primary election next week in favor of competing in South Carolina.
The change in strategy appeared to set up the one-on-one contest in New Hampshire that Nikki Haley has been hoping for against former President Donald J. Trump, who leads in polls but is more vulnerable in the moderate state than in socially conservative Iowa. At the same time, the shift could put new pressure on Ms. Haley in South Carolina, where she once served as governor.
The maneuvering may not ultimately make much of a dent in a race in which Mr. Trump has dominated polling, won the Iowa caucuses on Monday by a staggering 30 percentage points and spent Wednesday in court for one of his many legal cases, where a judge threatened to kick him out for being unruly. But it changed the calculations for his remaining Republican rivals.
As Mr. DeSantis’s team licked its wounds on Wednesday, his super PAC, Never Back Down, trimmed operations in several places, including Nevada. Other staff members were also laid off, including almost the entire online “war room” team, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Those who were cut had their email accounts immediately suspended. It was unclear how many people in all lost their jobs.
Mr. DeSantis also began moving a majority of his campaign staff — a separate group — to South Carolina to prepare for its Feb. 24 primary, according to a senior campaign official, who insisted on anonymity. And rather than campaign exclusively in New Hampshire this week, the final stretch before the primary election on Jan. 23, Mr. DeSantis will stump in South Carolina over the weekend, hoping that his conservative message will better align with primary voters.
His campaign on Wednesday framed the decision as a chance to deal a knockout blow to Ms. Haley.
“When Nikki Haley fails to win her home state, she’ll be finished and this will be a two-person race,” Andrew Romeo, a campaign spokesman, said in a statement. “We’re wasting no time in taking the fight directly to Haley on her home turf.”
But the move showed that Mr. DeSantis was all but giving up on competing in New Hampshire, where his poll numbers have been abysmal, trailing in the single digits far behind Mr. Trump and Ms. Haley.
Mr. DeSantis’s schedule has been hectic. After campaigning in New Hampshire on Wednesday, he and his time have said he now plans to spend Thursday off the trail, hold more New Hampshire events on Friday and then travel to South Carolina for most of the weekend before returning to New Hampshire on Sunday.
In Derry, he still tried to play up his New Hampshire bona fides.
“We’re excited to be here,” he said after a well-practiced five-minute anecdote about his family’s relationship to the Boston Red Sox, who are revered in New Hampshire. He went on to suggest that Ms. Haley’s refusal to debate him in the state had played a part in his decision to back away.
The group has burned through cash, spending at least $30 million on its push to reach voters in person through door-knocking and canvassing in early-primary states, according to a person with knowledge of its efforts — a figure that does not include additional tens of millions in television advertising.
Given that ambitious investment, Mr. DeSantis’s defeat on Monday to Mr. Trump in Iowa was all the more devastating, and raised urgent new questions about how long his operation could financially sustain a bid and attract new donors.
One of those who was laid off at Never Back Down, George Andrews, who had been assigned as a caucus precinct operations director in Iowa but also listed himself on LinkedIn as a state director in California, posted on the career website that he had been let go.
“As of 6 am this morning, I learned I am now a free agent due to budget cuts beyond my control,” Mr. Andrews wrote in a post on LinkedIn.
“I completely understand why this had to happen, harbor no ill will, and wish my former team great success as they attempt to bring back sanity to our party,” he wrote. “What they are trying to accomplish for America is much greater than my termination as an individual employee.”
An official with the group appeared to confirm the layoffs, saying that those affected were being paid through the end of January. The official, who did not speak on the record, added that the group was “evaluating and paring down” other consultants, vendors and some staff members who had been focused on various aspects of the group’s work.
Scott Wagner, the chief executive of Never Back Down, issued a statement saying that the group continued to host events for Mr. DeSantis, but he did not address the question of layoffs.
“Never Back Down continues to host a slew of events on the ground for Gov. DeSantis,” Mr. Wagner said. “We’ve mobilized several members of our robust Iowa team over to the other early primary states to help in these efforts.”
Paul Mondello, 81, of Londonderry, who was at an event for Mr. DeSantis in Derry on Wednesday, said it was “kind of offensive to some degree” that the governor was not focusing on New Hampshire, but it would not shake his resolve to vote for him.
“For him to leave, it is a little bit of a punch,” Mr. Mondello said. “I don’t think you should give up.”
Nick Corasaniti and Jonathan Swan contributed reporting.
Shane Goldmacher is a national political correspondent, covering the 2024 campaign and the major developments, trends and forces shaping American politics. He can be reached at shane.goldmacher@nytimes.com. More about Shane Goldmacher
Kellen Browning writes about technology, the gig economy and the video game industry. He has been reporting for The Times since 2020. More about Kellen Browning
Maggie Haberman is a senior political correspondent reporting on the 2024 presidential campaign, down ballot races across the country and the investigations into former President Donald J. Trump. More about Maggie Haberman
Nicholas Nehamas is a Times political reporter covering the presidential campaign of Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida. More about Nicholas Nehamas
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