DeSantis Team Reveals Bold Strategy to Use Trump's Own Winning Tactics Against Him
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis intends to use former President Donald Trump’s winning 2016 campaign tactics as a blueprint to defeat him in the 2024 primary, according to a report.
During the 2016 election and also in 2020, Trump was known for going anywhere and everywhere to get his message out to voters.
He held rallies in swing states — sometimes at the last minute — and visited communities that his Democratic rivals took for granted.
The strategy was successful against Hillary Clinton, and he didn’t let up against Joe Biden, who famously campaigned from his basement in 2020.
Trump’s work ethic undoubtedly helped get him into the White House, even though at the time polls showed he faced seemingly insurmountable odds.
According to the New York Post, DeSantis will use the same bold strategy to try to outmaneuver Trump.
The Florida governor has a full schedule of events in the early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which he will visit next week on a 12-stop tour, ABC News reported.
DeSantis told reporters after he officially entered the race on Wednesday that his plan is to force Trump to keep up with him.
“When we work, we work very hard,” he said. “We’re not just going to show up once in a blue moon. I mean, we’re there. We’re going to paint every corner of these early states. And that will start in earnest next week.”
DeSantis will kick off the early campaign tour in Des Moines on May 30.
A person who claimed to be close to DeSantis said the messaging blitz was inspired by Trump himself.
“Trump outworked Clinton,” the source told the Post. “Trump outworked Biden. He’s not going to outwork us. That’s one aspect we can control here.”
DeSantis, 44, appears ready to test the stamina of Trump, who is 76.
Polling has shown Trump with a substantial early lead in the primary. It will likely take a few days to see if DeSantis’ Wednesday announcement, which Trump panned for its technical difficulties, earned him any support.
DeSantis declared his candidacy during a Twitter Spaces chat with Elon Musk. While the feed repeatedly crashed, the governor raised $1 million in just an hour, according to DeSantis press secretary Bryan Griffin.
There was so much enthusiasm for Governor DeSantis’ vision for our Great American Comeback that he literally busted up the internet. Washington is next.
$1 million raised online in one hour… and counting!
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) May 24, 2023
DeSantis’ campaign manager, Generra Peck, signaled to ABC that the candidate isn’t going to wait for a post-announcement numbers bump. He intends to hit the ground running.
“Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states,” Peck said in a statement. “No one will work harder than Governor DeSantis to share his vision with the country — he has only begun to fight.”
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