What appears to be a debate strategy for Ron DeSantis, urging the Florida governor to "attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times" and "defend Donald Trump in absentia" has been posted on the website of Axiom Strategist, a company closely connected to pro-DeSantis Super PAC Never Back Down.
The document's existence was first uncovered by The New York Times, after which it was deleted from the website. On August 23 the first Republican presidential primary debate is scheduled to take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Eight GOP candidates have qualified for the debate, though Trump has refused to say he plans to attend.
Polling suggests DeSantis remains significantly behind Trump in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, with one recent survey even finding he had fallen into third place behind business tycoon Vivek Ramaswamy. The governor's candidacy has been racked with instability in recent weeks, with a new campaign manager appointed earlier this month and 38 staffers reportedly fired in July.
Axiom Strategies, a consultancy firm "serving conservative candidates and causes," is owned by Joe Roe, who also serves as chief strategist of the Never Back Down Super PAC dedicated to supporting DeSantis's presidential bid. After being approached by the New York Times the debate strategy, and other documents related to the DeSantis campaign, were removed from the Axiom Strategies website.
The debate "memorandum" sets out four "overarching goals" for DeSantis to achieve when he first takes on his GOP rivals.
These are to "attack Joe Biden and the media 3-5 times," state his "positive vision 2-3 times, "hammer Vivek Ramaswamy in a response" and "defend Donald Trump in absentia in response to a Chris Christie attack."
Newsweek has made the full memorandum available to read below:
The document quotes heavily from the "orchestra pit theory" of debates developed by Roger Ailes, the former CEO of Fox News, which focuses on grabbing media attention over detailed policy discussion.
Explaining his theory Ailes said: "You have two guys on stage and one guy says, I have a solution to the Middle East problem, and the other guy falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think is going to be on the evening news?"
DeSantis is urged to "take a sledge-hammer" to Ramaswamy in the document, which suggests he be branded "fake Vivek" or "Vivek the fake."
If Trump is attacked by Christie, the former governor of New Jersey and a fierce critic, DeSantis is advised to say "Trump isn't here so let's just leave him alone. He's too weak to defend himself here. We're all running against him. I don't think we want to join forces with someone on this stage who's auditioning for a show on MSNBC."
Whilst DeSantis is urged to praise Trump, the memorandum also says he should imply the former president has become too divisive. It's suggested the governor could respond by saying: "Many voters, like me, voted for Donald Trump, love Donald Trump.
"He was a breath of fresh air and the first president to tell the elite where to shove it. But he was attacked all the time, provoked attacks all the time, and it was non-stop. The drama affected families. Trump's drama pitted brother against brother, friend against friend.
He's got so many distractions that it's almost impossible for him to focus on moving the country forward. This election is too important. We need someone that can fight for you instead of fighting for himself."
Newsweek has contacted DeSantis, Axiom Strategies and Never Back Down for comment by email.
A poll conducted by Axiom Strategist for Never Back Down and published showed DeSantis is now the preferred Republican candidate of just 16 percent of GOP voters in New Hampshire, a crucial early voting state, compared to more than a quarter in the spring.
