A super PAC supporting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ anticipated 2024 presidential run has raised $30 million in the four-plus weeks since its launch, a senior official confirmed to The Post.
Never Back Down has not yet disclosed its donors, but raked in at least half of the money from contributors outside the Sunshine State, according to The New York Times, which first reported on the eye-popping take.
A senior official with the super PAC also confirmed that none of the donations came from other campaign committees. DeSantis’ own state political committee currently holds more than $82 million.
The super PAC was stood up on March 9 by former Trump administration acting deputy homeland security secretary Ken Cuccinelli.
The report comes as former President Donald Trump raised more than $4 million in the 24 hours following his indictment by a Manhattan grand jury for allegedly paying “hush money” to porn star Stormy Daniels on the eve of the 2016 election.
Trump, 76, faces more than 30 charges from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, including at least one felony count for having falsified business records, sources told The Post.
The 45th president’s campaign has repeatedly slammed the indictment as “a disgraceful weaponization of our justice system.”
“This incredible surge of grassroots contributions confirms that the American people see the indictment of President Trump as a disgraceful weaponization of our justice system by a Soros-funded prosecutor,” according to a Friday press release from Trump’s campaign, referring to a $1 million donation liberal billionaire George Soros gave in 2021 to a PAC that backed Bragg for district attorney.
The Trump 2024 campaign also noted that a quarter of the money raised following the indictment came from first-time donors to the former president.
“Americans from across all 50 states donated to President Trump’s campaign within the first 5 hours of the sham indictment,” the campaign noted.
The former president appeared free of worries on Sunday while enjoying a round of golf at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
DeSantis on Saturday criticized Bragg over the indictment during a speech on Long Island, saying the prosecutor was “all about politics” and “a menace to society.”
“His whole thing is he doesn’t want people to be in jail, he wants to downgrade felonies to misdemeanors,” DeSantis said in Garden City, referring to reports that have shown Bragg downgrades a majority of charges he brings.
“And then he turns around, does a flimsy indictment against a former president of the United States. All these legal gymnastics to act like this is a felony – when almost every other time, he’s trying to take the felonies and downgrade them,” the Florida governor added.
DeSantis pledged Thursday to ignore any extradition requests from Bragg’s office, though Trump’s lawyers have said the former president will voluntarily surrender on Tuesday — making the governor’s vow moot.
Never Back Down has also hired a number of former Trump aides over the past month, including Trump 2020 campaign deputy communications director Matt Wolking, who also served as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s campaign communications director in 2021.
Jeff Roe, a former senior adviser to Youngkin and architect of the 2016 presidential campaign for Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), also joined Never Back Down in March
Cuccinelli, who also served as Virginia attorney general from 2010 to 2014, called on DeSantis to enter the race weeks before Trump’s indictment, saying in a statement the Florida governor was “a leader and a fighter with a winning conservative track record.”
DeSantis has long been expected to throw his hat in the ring next month, after the legislative session ends in Florida.
Trump is expected in a Manhattan court on Tuesday to be arraigned on the charges related to the Daniels case.
A Yahoo News/YouGov poll post-indictment found Trump leading DeSantis nationwide by 26 percentage points among registered Republicans or GOP-leaning independents — 57% to 31%.
Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson joined Trump and former South Carolina Gov. and ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley in the 2024 GOP race Sunday, announcing his candidacy in an interview with ABC News’ “This Week.”
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