DeSantis reportedly ‘apoplectic’ after debate strategy posted online

• The first GOP presidential debate occurred on August 23 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
• About a week prior, the New York Times published a debate strategy linked to DeSantis’ super PAC.
• The release reportedly made DeSantis “apoplectic.”

GOP presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was reportedly “apoplectic” after media outlets published copies of debate strategy that were quietly shared online by a company closely connected to his super PAC.

In mid-August, approximately a week before the first Republican presidential debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the New York Times released a report detailing pages of proposed debate strategy for DeSantis from his super PAC, Never Back Down.  The strategy included defending former President Donald Trump from any jabs by former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, “hammer[ing] Vivek Ramaswamy,” and going after President Joe Biden and the media.

According to a report from the Washington Post on Friday, the media’s publication of his potential debate strategy enraged DeSantis when he found out. His campaign and super PAC denied the reporting. 

A series of polls taken before and after the debate by the Washington Post/FiveThirtyEight/Ipsos revealed that likely GOP voters believed DeSantis was the best-performing candidate on stage.

DeSantis is sitting squarely in second place in national polling. According to an average of national polls from FiveThirtyEight, he’s nearly 40 percentage points behind Trump and 6.2 percentage points ahead of Ramaswamy who’s in third.

At the end of August, DeSantis was took over a week-long break from the campaign trail in the run-up and aftermath of Hurricane Idalia. While Biden said he’d meet with DeSantis to discuss the disaster, the governor never met with him, leaving GOP Sen. Rick Scott to pose with the Democratic president and thank him for the government’s quick assistance.