The car wreck that has become Ron “Don’t Say Gay” DeSantis’ presidential campaign keeps piling up. The latest casualty is a secretive, pro-DeSantis blog that’s said to be calling it quits after launching just last year.
The Florida Standard, a self-proclaimed “content and reporting machine rooted in truth, deep policy fluency and a commitment to an informed public”, reportedly just fired its entire staff mere weeks before Christmas, a month and a half before Iowa’s primary in January, and just a few months before Florida’s primary in March.
The site, which began in 2022 and is led by 26-year-old influencer Will Witt, is expected to shut down entirely before the end of 2023.
According to sources with ties to Gov. DeSantis’s Executive Office and with knowledge about the workings of the media outlet—which in the past has been spoon-fed exclusives for publication and was granted two rare interviews with Gov. DeSantis—The Standard will be closing down operations on or around December 13…
…The sources, who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity, said that the Governor’s office propped up the website and was giving it direction through several members of DeSantis’s presidential campaign and official office.
Contrary to what DeSantis’s political world spins, there are leaks within the official office and the campaign.
DeSantis’s controversial Rapid Response staffer Christina Pushaw, who recently poked fun at former President Donald Trump at the expense of a Holocaust survivor, is alleged to have confirmed her involvement with the outlet to one of her close friends.
In addition to propping up the gay-hating governor and his extreme right-wing agenda, Witt’s site frequently publishes salacious, often misleading headlines and articles attacking the LGBTQ+ community.
One Republican lawmaker wants to ban the use of “preferred pronouns” and mandatory LGBTQ “training programs” at publicly supported institutions. Read more here: https://t.co/UGooFW1trhpic.twitter.com/CRlZz8e7JG— The Florida Standard (@theflstandard) November 22, 2023
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court (SCOTUS) declined the state’s request to lift a preliminary injunction that is preventing the enforcement of the Protection of Children Act. Now state officials are petitioning a federal appeals court. Read more here: https://t.co/BiBpcY9k5Cpic.twitter.com/lTaDU1o9UX— The Florida Standard (@theflstandard) November 28, 2023
“This is a disturbing escalation of right-wing extremism in Florida and an aggressive acceleration by the DeSantis administration in its continued attempt to censor and erase our existence,” – Read more here: https://t.co/ZoxcXCXy8spic.twitter.com/Lc1qw9gquP— The Florida Standard (@theflstandard) November 27, 2023
A new Florida law aimed at stopping adults from exposing children to “adult live performances” will not be enforced until, at the earliest, next summer. Two conservative justices swung the vote against the state’s petition. Read more here: https://t.co/V2NmUQcRbApic.twitter.com/4BmfdB3gk7— The Florida Standard (@theflstandard) November 20, 2023
We could go on, but we think you get the picture.
Aside from running The Florida Standard into the ground, Witt likes to spend his free time spreading hate and intolerance on Instagram, where he has somehow managed to accumulate over 500K followers.
Here’s a video he posted on Thanksgiving blasting the Macy’s parade for being too inclusive of LBGTQ+ people.
It’s unclear exactly why Witt’s site is shuttering its doors so abruptly, but we’re guessing it could have something to do with the fact that he’s obnoxious, it can’t attract any serious writers or advertisers, and, oh yeah, DeSantis’ presidential campaign is in the toilet.
Despite just wrapping up a 99-stop tour in Iowa, a new Americans for Prosperity poll still finds him trailing Donald Trump by double digits in the Hawkeye State. He’s also fallen behind Nicki Haley, who’s now polling at 17%, compared to his 16%.
To make matters worse, last month his biggest donor, the space-exploring real estate baron Robert Bigelow, announced he was ditching DeSantis for Trump, and last week, Never Back Down, the super PAC bolstering his hopeless White House effort, canned three of its most senior staffers–Director of Operations Matt Palmisano, Communications Director Erin Perrine, and interim CEO Kristin Davison, who only had the job for nine days before getting the boot.
The sudden departures sent shockwaves throughout DeSantis’ political operation, from Tallahassee to Des Moines. Some people intimately involved in the effort to elect DeSantis learned of the dismissals the night they happened. A source inside the super PAC told CNN the changes as a whole were distracting and said they came as a surprise to people at Never Back Down.
One of the dismissed operatives had appeared that day at a super PAC event in Sioux City, Iowa, that featured DeSantis.
Though it’s pretty obvious to just about everyone that DeSantis’ path to victory is, well, nonexistent, he appears hellbent on staying in the race until every last super PAC, donor, and activist blog has either been shut down, run off, or abandoned him.
