Another one-time confidante of former President Donald Trump is ready to move on.
Steve Cortes, a senior advisor to Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns, will back Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2024. He just joined Never Back Down, the super PAC laying groundwork for a DeSantis presidential campaign, as an advisor and surrogate.
The former Newsmax host explained why he was changing camps in an op-ed published by Newsweek. He called DeSantis “the best possible option to win the presidency in 2024 and to govern as a highly capable, patriotic populist leader.”
After working for Trump over two presidential campaigns, Cortes said he did not make the decision lightly. But he suggested that the entire country hungers for a change. He pointed to recent polling showing most Americans would prefer neither Trump nor Democratic President Joe Biden run again in 2024.
“Despite these clear supermajority voter preferences, the Biden-Trump establishment insists on thrusting this dismal decision upon the people,” Cortes wrote. “In fact, both camps insist that a party-directed coronation should unfold, rather than competitive Primaries, with Biden and Trump both vowing to avoid meaningful debates with rivals.”
He also said populists within the Republican Party must recognize why voters delivered disappointing losses to the GOP across the country in 2018, 2020 and 2022.
“The days of Republican voters screaming from their couches in anger must end,” he wrote. “Without victory, our conservative agendas — however correct or well-formed — mean little.”
By contrast, he noted Gov. Ron DeSantis won in November by a landslide margin in a traditional swing state. That was done, Cortes said, by offering more disciplined messaging and attractive policies.
Never Back Down has recruited a number of individuals who previously advocated for Trump. Former Trump administration Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli launched the group. Erin Perrine and Matt Wolking, who each worked communications for Trump’s 2020 campaign, both now work for the DeSantis super PAC.
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