Free Republic

Conservative commentator Ben Shapiro announced last week to the more than 15 million monthly listeners of his eponymous podcast that he wouldn’t just vote for Donald Trump, he would also co-host a fundraiser for the former president.Because the choices for president are identical to 2020, Shapiro said he would “walk over broken glass” to support Trump. Almost immediately, he had an opportunity. Trump said Monday that “any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion,” comments that the White House quickly condemned as “vile and unhinged antisemitic rhetoric.”Shapiro, an Orthodox Jew and outspoken ally of Israel, provided a quick...

On the menu today: The cover piece in the newest issue of National Review has Ron DeSantis fans grumbling that it’s far too early for such a gloomy assessment of his campaign because not a single vote has been cast yet. Fine, but to believe that DeSantis has a shot of winning Iowa, we need to believe that his support is at least 15 percentage points higher than his highest numbers in recent polling and that Donald Trump’s support is at least 15 percentage points lower than his lowest numbers in recent polling. (If you simply take DeSantis’s best number...

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will meet this week with high-dollar Republicans to try to cement their support for the newest political action committee supporting his presidential bid, his campaign manager, James Uthmeier, wrote in a memo on Monday morning. Back Down, the super PAC which has bankrolled much of DeSantis' sprawling ground work in early voting states like Iowa and has hosted the governor for dozens of events there. In a fraught moment earlier this month that was first reported by NBC News, two board members from Never Back Down nearly got into a physical fight during a private meeting...

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took more than $11,000 in campaign donations from the CEO of a Tampa refrigerant company backed by China, according to a report.According to a report in the Miami Herald, the donation was “just the latest in years” of financial support that the company, iGas USA, has given DeSantis. The report said that DeSantis even held a rally at the company’s Tampa complex.The report said:The rally and contributions are part of a recent wave of political giving by iGas and entities associated with its CEO, Xianbin (Ben) Meng. All told, the companies and employees...

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) is betting his campaign on an all-or-nothing bid in Iowa, as he is moving a third of his campaign staff to the Hawkeye state while he has around $5 million in available primary funds in his war chest, according to a New York Times report. The move marks a pivotal moment for DeSantis, as Iowa is the first Republican-voting state in the nation, and its caucus next January represents one of only a few opportunities to reverse narratives surrounding his campaign, given his collapse in the polls since the spring.During that time, frontrunner former President Donald...

When asked by Fox News host Will Cain about his struggling poll performance with Republican voters, the Florida Governor pivoted to boasting about his fundraising haul, mostly provided by corporate donors including many linked to globalist ideology, as questionable election practices.Fox’s Cain predictably soft-balled DeSantis, telling him how much he likes him, before asking: “Why is it in your estimation the numbers have not reflected your success in Florida?”DeSantis’s non-answer was more of an answer than you might first think.“Did you just see the news today about the record fundraising haul we’ve had? Nobody’s been able to match that in...

Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis has fired a number of his staff due to his struggling presidential campaign failing to meet fundraising goals, as well as burning through inordinate amounts of large, corporate donor cash less than two months after he announced that he was running for the Republican presidential nomination.The news came just days after National Pulse Editor-in-Chief predicted the “shake up” on The Campaign Trail podcast as well as on Twitter:[cut] Another major revelation is that just 15 percent of the DeSantis campaign’s donations came from “small-dollar donors,” compared to former president Donald Trump, who is heavily reliant...

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Officials who work for Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration — not his campaign — have been sending text messages to Florida lobbyists soliciting political contributions for DeSantis' presidential bid, NBC News reviewed text messages from four DeSantis administration officials, including those directly in the governor's office and with leadership positions in state agencies. They requested the recipient of the message contribute to the governor’s campaign through a specific link that appeared to track who is giving as part of a “bundle” program. DeSantis’ office did not return a request seeking comment, but one administration official acknowledged that they...