DeSantis Is Said to Quietly Hinder Fund-Raising for Trump Convention

[Demovictory9]

DeSantis Is Said to Quietly Hinder Fund-Raising for Trump Convention
A personal dispute has prompted Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, to discourage donors from contributing, people familiar with the discussions said. His top fund-raiser denies any attempt to undercut the convention.

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Mr. DeSantis, a Republican, has directed his top fund-raiser, Heather Barker, to tell donors not to give to the convention because of a personal dispute between the governor and Susie Wiles, his former campaign manager who is serving as an informal adviser to the convention planners, according to multiple people familiar with his actions.

Ms. Wiles is a veteran Republican operative who led Mr. Trump’s Florida team in 2016 and who ran Mr. DeSantis’s 2018 campaign for governor. Mr. DeSantis’s relationship with Ms. Wiles soured over his suspicion that she had leaked embarrassing information.


Ms. Wiles, who lives in Jacksonville, rejoined the Trump campaign as an unpaid adviser last week, as the president’s poll numbers in Florida, the country’s biggest battleground state, have slipped and as he has sought to recreate his winning team from four years ago.

Ms. Barker, the top DeSantis fund-raiser, has been explicit with donors in Florida that the governor will not be helpful with rounding up money for the convention because of the involvement of Ms. Wiles, according to the people familiar with the conversations. In a phone call with Mr. Trump about whether to involve Ms. Wiles in the convention planning, Mr. DeSantis also told the president that she was overrated as an operative and that she had little to do with Mr. Trump’s 2016 victory in the state, a person familiar with the discussion said. Mr. Trump did not respond, and changed the subject.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/09/us/politics/trump-florida-convention-desantis.html

[UncleTomsEvilBrother]

1. I wouldn't be surprised...

...if this were true. DeSantis clearly has aspirations to run for President. Since Marco Rubio always runs, we won't be able to tell the difference between the two of them in the primary.