OAN’s Roy Francis
10:32 AM – Friday, May 26, 2023
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis raised around $8.2 million in the first 24 hours after he announced on Twitter that he was running for President.
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The DeSantis campaign said that the total sum includes donations and funds raised through Ron-o-Rama, a meeting of Republican donors at the Four Seasons in Miami, as well as online donations and fundraisers.
The $8.2 million raised by DeSantis surpasses the $6.3 million that President Joe Biden had raised on the first day of his campaign ahead of the 2020 election.
According to an advertisement tracker group, altogether, over $36 million has been spent on advertisement by Republican groups for the 2024 presidential elections so far.
The high amount of donations that the DeSantis campaign has raised will aid in financing a demanding political schedule as he is set to begin travelling and campaigning across the country.
“We are laser-focused on taking Gov. DeSantis’ forward-thinking message for restoring America to every potential voter in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina,” DeSantis campaign manager Generra Peck said. “Our campaign is committed to putting in the time to win these early nominating states. No one will work harder than Gov. DeSantis to share his vision with the country – he has only begun to fight.”
According to CBS News, founder of venture capital firm 8VC Joe Lonsdale, agreed that these donations will help DeSantis “establish momentum” and “accelerate the ground game” in certain states.
“These direct campaign dollars are critically important at this phase to establish momentum, report good numbers early, and accelerate the ground game in key states like Iowa and South Carolina,” he said.
Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, is expected to have a budget of around $200 million, half of which will be dedicated for voter turnout and strategies for the ground game. The PAC claims that they have already began conducting their door to door campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire.
On the other hand, Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC supporting former President Donald Trump, said that DeSantis “was still not able to raise enough money to make up for his botched campaign launch.” A spokesperson for the PAC, Alex Pfieiffer, said that DeSantis’ track record makes his “campaign dead on arrival.”
“His record of targeting senior benefits, wanting to raise taxes, and withholding funding for the border wall makes this campaign dead on arrival. No amount of money will change that,” he said.
DeSantis has now cast himself into a Republican Presidential race that has so far been led and dominated by Trump. Most experts agree that the Republican nomination race is primarily a “two-man” race between Trump and DeSantis, however, Trump is still in the lead according to recent polls.
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