**This article has been updated with new information and the headline has been changed.
As the 2024 presidential race heats up, a $50 million super PAC set up to urge Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) to run for the White House, abruptly shut down. The DeSantis team was never affiliated with the PAC, which was launched in November 2022.
"We've made clear from the beginning that this was a scam PAC looking to grift off Ron DeSantis, and it comes as welcome news they are no longer attempting to fleece our donors," Romeo told DailyMail.com. "Ron DeSantis out-raised both Biden and Trump last quarter, and we look forward to continuing our fundraising success as we capitalize on his strong debate performance and momentum in the early states."
On the contrary, DeSantis's official super PAC, Never Back Down, raised $130 million in the second quarter of this year. According to election fundraising filings, by the end of June, it had $96.8 million still to spend.
The "Ron to the Rescue" PAC reportedly went under after founder, Republican strategist John Thomas, cited a series of "rookie mistakes" and blamed the candidate, not himself.
Thomas never had a partnership with the DeSantis team, but complained the DeSantis campaign (which isn't legally allowed to coordinate with any PAC) didn't provide essential video content that television stations can use to "project optically what your vision is for the future."
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Early on the PAC secured financial commitments from mega-wealthy donors. However, Thomas claims the donors have begun having second thoughts after the governor's botched Twitter Spaces campaign announcement with Elon Musk.
Thomas, known as the "Billy the Kid of Political Battles," said the PAC planned to spend heavily on TV campaigns to support DeSantis, but "the problem with that is with the Twitter Spaces blunder, like almost from the get-go, all of our major donors said, 'let's just see how this plays out.'"
The “scam” PAC has only declared a total of $1621.01 in donations. It had $0 on hand at the end of the last reporting period on 30 June 2023.
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