DeSantis memo reveals his upcoming GOP debate strategy: ‘Sledgehammer’ rising star Vivek Ramaswamy, defend Trump and ATTACK media no less than ‘three to five’ times

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was advised at next week’s GOP debate to hit rising rival Vivek Ramaswamy with a “sledgehammer.”

DeSantis was also advised to defend former President Donald Trump and deflect attacks from former New Jersey Governor Chris Christiie, the most vocal anti-Trump candidate of the bunch.

He should also attack the mainstream media and Democratic President Joe Biden at least “three to five” times during the Fox News debate in Milwaukee.

Those recommendations have now been publicly thanked to a report in the New York Times Thursday morning that revealed a series of documents posted on the website of the company owned by Jeff Roe, the chief strategist of the DeSantis-aligned super PAC, Never Back Down.

The super PAC documents were intended as guidance for DeSantis, who will face his GOP rivals in his first presidential debate on Wednesday.

Super PACs cannot coordinate directly with presidential campaigns, so they sometimes post documents where both sides know where to find them, hidden in plain sight.

In this case, with the documents on the website of Roe’s political consulting firm, the trove was posted in broad daylight.

The pages related to the debate have since been removed since The Times published its report.

But the copy obtained by the paper explained the late Fox News head Roger Ailes’ “orchestral theory” and gave DeSantis ideas on how to use it.

‘It’s my orchestral theory of politics. You have two guys on stage and one guy says: I have a solution to the Middle East problem, and the other guy falls into the orchestra pit, who do you think will be on the evening news,” said Ailes. .

For DeSantis, advisers said he could give Ramaswamy a nickname, such as “Fake Vivek” or “Vivek The Fake.”

Ramaswamy has jumped DeSantis to second place in a handful of early state or national polls.

Another potential orchestral moment could come as DeSantis defending Trump against Christie.

Trump isn’t here, so let’s leave him alone. He’s too weak to defend himself here,” advisers suggest DeSantis should say. “We all run into him. I don’t think we want to join forces with someone on this stage auditioning for a show on MSNBC.”

To help DeSantis overcome his awkward image, the super PAC’s advisers suggest he “conjures up a personal anecdotal story about family, kids, Casey, showing emotions.”

And then they give him a whole monologue about how to sell himself to Trump’s voters – trying to convince them it’s time to move on.

“The country is a mess right now. I’ve been all over the country. I’ve been to Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and crossed this country meeting voters and Americans who are concerned about the fate of our country,” the script began.

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 send it,” it continued.

“But he was attacked all the time, provoking attacks all the time, and it was non-stop. The drama affected families. Trump’s drama pitted brother against brother, friend against friend. He has so many distractions that it’s almost impossible for him to focus on moving the country forward.”

“This election is too important,” the PAC’s advisers told DeSantis. “We need someone who can fight for you instead of himself. We need someone to take the torch and carry it to the next chapter. I am the only one on this stage who will do that, who can do that, and who will continue the movement that Donald Trump started.”

“It’s about who can give the Republican party and the country a better future,” DeSantis said.

Advisers even linked to a video that Florida’s governor should use as “inspiration.”

The videotitled “John,” was created by the Win It Back PAC, a Club For Growth-linked group trying to prevent Trump from winning the GOP nomination.

In the video, John compliments Trump but encourages Americans that it’s time to move on.

Links on the “news” page of Roe’s Axiom Strategies website are guides to how each of the 2024 hopefuls are expected to meet DeSantis on the debate stage.

A guide on former Vice President Mike Pence highlights how the ex-VP has focused on DeSantis’s abortion stance, suggesting Florida’s governor has been slack about a federal abortion ban.

DeSantis signed into law a six-week Florida abortion ban, but has indicated during the campaign trail that that time frame may not have national appeal.

There is a document that lists some of Ramaswamy’s perceived vulnerabilities, including that he “expressed support for public schools that teach children from the age of 8 about sex.’

No documents had been written for DeSantis specifically detailing how he should debate Trump, who has hinted for weeks that he would skip the first debate, especially since it is sponsored by Fox, with whom Trump has long been feuding.

Democratic political strategist David Axelrod, who is credited with helping then-Senator Barack Obama win the White House in 2008, was irate by the DeSantis doc drop.

“This is a first for me: a SuperPac leaking a voluminous pre-debate strategic memo to the candidate on the other side of the wall,” Axelrod said. “Now, if and when (DeSantis) does any of these things in next week’s debate, he’s going to look completely fake.”

“It’s insane!” said Axelrod.