Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is trying to turn the GOP primary into a two man race.
But DeSantis got some bad news.
And that’s because top Ron DeSantis also made a shocking admission that no one saw coming.
Steve Cortes was one of Donald Trump’s biggest supporters in 2016 and 2020, endorsing the former President early on and continuing to defend him as a CNN contributor throughout the past few years.
However, in the 2024 cycle, Cortez endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and has taken a position with the pro-DeSantis Super PAC, Never Back Down.
Of course, as national polls have shown, the multiple indictments and other witch hunts against Trump have helped expand his lead over the Governor.
And in a Twitter Spaces, Cortes admitted Trump has a strong lead over DeSantis in the contest, and is the current “runaway frontrunner.”
“Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,” Cortes declared. “I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.”
Cortes also dubbed Trump the “maestro of the debate,” and said he “has debated through two successive Presidential cycles, so of course, he possesses a lot of experience in that arena.”
That doesn’t mean he’s any less confident about DeSantis’ ability to close the gap with the start of the Republican Presidential Primary still many months away.
“But I am convinced that Governor DeSantis will outperform expectations and inform large audiences about his amazing life, political record, and winning agenda for the presidency.” Cortes added.
Cortes went further, declaring DeSantis the “clear underdog,” but also pointed out that polls out of the first four Primary states show the race is much closer than national polls indicate.
“In the first four states which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down,” Cortez said. “We’re down double digits, we have work to do.”
Taking the approach all Republican candidates and their supporters should take, Cortes also made clear that if Trump continued to be voters’ top choice, the DeSantis contingent would obviously be all-in on getting the former President elected, and even noted that Trump would likely be a far better candidate heading into the General Election having ran against a strong candidate, like the Governor.
“If we do not prevail — and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second — but if we do not prevail I will tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,” Cortes noted.
“Taking on an incumbent or former President in the primary always represents a significant challenge,” he continued. “I gladly embraced that reality in joining the team. All of us on Team DeSantis remain convinced that the governor has a strong path to the nomination, and the best chance of any Republican to defeat Biden in the general election.”
US Political Daily will keep you updated on any developments to this ongoing story.
