DeSantis super PAC strategist spreading negative press about Ramaswamy: report

The strategist for a super PAC for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has privately boasted to donors that his group is behind recent negative press about GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy, a new report says.

Jeff Roe, who runs operations for Never Back Down PAC, took credit for opposition research that has surfaced on Ramaswamy, 38, highlighting the shifting policy stances of the candidate, who is vying in a packed field that includes DeSantis and frontrunner Donald Trump, according to an audio recording obtained by Politico.

“Everything you read about him is from us,” Roe, the founder and CEO of Axiom Strategies, reportedly told donors of Ramaswamy.

“Every misstatement, every 360 he’s conducting or 180 that he is going through in life, is from our scrutiny and pressure,” the chief strategist said. “And so he’s not going to go through that very well, and that will get worse for him.”

The recording was taken just hours before the first Republican primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis., according to reports. A spokeswoman for Never Back Down did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
GOP presidential hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy (speaking here to supporters) has been the target of recent negative press attacks allegedly planted by a super PAC for rival and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
ZUMAPRESS.com

But Ramaswamy spokeswoman Tricia McLaughlin fired back to Politico, “When DeSantis’s super PAC campaign, Chris Christie, The New York Times, MSNBC and the rest of the bipartisan establishment are all going after you at the same time, you know you’re right over the target.

“America watched Vivek dominate the debate stage, it’s no wonder Never Back Down is pissing away another $20+ million after Labor Day,” the rep said.

Ramaswamy was considered the winner of the Republican debate, according to a poll commissioned by The Post, with 23% favoring his performance over 21% who applauded the 44-year-old DeSantis. Trump famously did not participate.


Jeff Roe
Jeff Roe, who is running operations for the Never Back Down PAC, took credit for opposition research that has surfaced on Ramaswamy, 38, highlighting the longshot candidate’s shifting policy stances.
Courtesy of Jeff Roe

Roe was also caught on the pre-debate tape pleading for $50 million in contributions to help DeSantis get ahead of Trump in the 2024 Republican primary, the New York Times reported.

The veteran GOP strategist led the 2016 presidential campaign of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) to victory in Iowa over Trump — although Trump eventually won the White House — and delivered Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin an upset win in 2021.

“Iowa is a real state for us because of its education — it’s a highly educated state — because of income, because of bible reading,” Roe told donors on the audio recording of DeSantis’s chances there.


Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
Ramaswamy was later considered the winner of the Republican debate, according to a poll commissioned by The Post.
ZUMAPRESS.com

“New Hampshire is a terrible state for Donald Trump,” Roe added. “That’s a terrible state for him. He’s gonna get like 28 percent. Now there is more people who will have a slice of that, and some people are just betting on New Hampshire overall. But he’s going to lose the first two states. We’re going to beat him in Iowa.”

Ahead of the August debate, several stories had pointed out Ramaswamy flip-flopped on his views over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and on whether he was “open” to a presidential pardon of Hunter Biden if elected in 2024.

The biotech entrepreneur on the debate stage also expressed views contrary to his previous statements on American foreign policy and climate change.


Jeff Roe and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin
Roe, a veteran GOP strategist, delivered Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (right) an upset win in 2021.
Getty Images

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
Florida Gov. and Republican presidential contender Ron DeSantis enjoys 14.3% GOP support, while party foe Ramaswamy enjoys 7.1%, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling average.
AP

“He will not go through the discovery, scrutiny and decline phase of presidential politics very well,” Roe said in the pre-debate audio. “His scrutiny phase, we are putting him through it right now.”

Ramaswamy acknowledged in an interview with The Wall Street Journal last month that “[t]he knives are coming out” for him as his campaign has seen a surge in national polls.

He currently lags around 7 percentage points behind DeSantis in national support, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average.


Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy
DeSantis and Ramaswamy confront each other at the first Republican primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.
Getty Images

The Florida governor enjoys 14.3% support, while Ramaswamy has garnered 7.1%. The two candidates earned roughly $1 million each in the first 24 hours after the first GOP debate.

They are followed in the polling aggregator by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (6%), former Vice President Mike Pence (4.6%), former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (2.9%) and South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott (2%).

Former President Donald Trump is leading the Republican primary field by historic margins, with 53.6% support in the RealClear average.


First Republican primary debate at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wis.
Ramaswamy’s rep said her boss is being attacked because “America watched Vivek dominate the debate stage.”
AFP via Getty Images

“We’ve just been playing without pads, practicing without pads,” Roe also told donors before the Milwaukee debate, adding that the DeSantis campaign had been “playing in the sandbox with Vivek and Burgum, and this kind of dance we need to do, little tapioca pudding crap that we’ve been doing.

“I think the separation is going to be real and stark and aggressive,” he said of the pack of candidates. “I think that will become real clear the day after Labor Day.”

One of the wealthiest Americans under the age of 40, Ramaswamy made his nine-figure fortune founding the biotech company Roivant Sciences in 2014, which he took public seven years later while holding a 10% stake.