Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) embattled presidential campaign faced more setbacks on Tuesday, after the campaign confirmed — on the heels of another round of weak national polling — that it has cut a third of its paid staffers.
DeSantis’ campaign has let go of roughly 38 people on its 90-person payroll as it seeks to slim down operations, Politico first reported. The governor’s operation framed the move as part of a “reset” after his campaign failed to catch fire since its May launch. That figure includes everyone who has departed the campaign in recent weeks amid its restructuring.
That includes a communications staffer, Nate Hochman, who amplified a video featuring DeSantis superimposed against a Nazi-linked symbol and who once praised white nationalist Nick Fuentes, before walking back his statements.
“Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional, aggressive steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden,” DeSantis’ campaign manager, Generra Peck, said in a statement to HuffPost.
The cuts are the latest indication that DeSantis’ campaign for the Republican presidential nomination is falling flat, with DeSantis quickly burning through his cash while remaining a distant second behind former President Donald Trump. A national Monmouth University survey released Tuesday found that DeSantis is still running about 30 percentage points behind Trump when the entire GOP field is accounted for. In a one-on-one matchup, Trump leads with 55% support, while DeSantis trails at 35%.