Ron DeSantis - latest: Campaign fires staffer over Nazi meme as animal blamed for motorcade crash

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Ron DeSantis: CCTV shows emergency services attending car crash scene

Ron DeSantis was in a car crash while on his way to a fundraiser in Tennessee.

The Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate was uninjured in the Tuesday morning incident.

“We appreciate the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail,” spokesperson Bryan Griffin said in a statement.

Mr DeSantis was set to attend fundraisers in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville on Tuesday as his campaign is reported to be floundering both in terms of funding and poll numbers.

Meanwhile, the governor’s presidential campaign continues to suffer internal turmoil.

A staffer was recently fired for posting a video using Nazi imagery superimposed on Mr DeSantis’s face.

Key Points

• VIDEO: CCTV shows emergency services attending car crash scene
• DeSantis campaign fires aide behind neo-Nazi meme video
• Four cars in DeSantis motorcade collided with each other as traffic slowed, police say
• DeSantis lays off a third of his campaign staff as presidential bid sputters
• Ron DeSantis has already blown 40 per cent of his campaign donations – on private jets and fancy campaign dinners
• Four cars in Ron DeSantis motorcade crash into each other on way to Tennessee fundraisers

[25 July 2023 14:34 · Gustaf Kilander]

Ron DeSantis in car crash as he heads to Tennessee campaign event

Ron DeSantis was in a car crash while on his way to a campaign event in Tennessee.

The Florida governor and 2024 presidential candidate was uninjured in the Tuesday morning incident.

“This morning, the governor was in a car accident while traveling to an event in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He and his team are uninjured. We appreciate the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail,” spokesperson Bryan Griffin said in a statement, according to CNN.

Mr DeSantis was set to attend fundraisers in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville on Tuesday as his campaign is reported to be floundering both in terms of funding and poll numbers.

[25 July 2023 14:57 · Gustaf Kilander]

VIDEO: CCTV shows emergency services attending car crash scene

[25 July 2023 15:09 · Holly Patrick]

Ron DeSantis: CCTV shows emergency services attending scene of presidential hopeful’s car crash

CCTV footage shows emergency services attending the scene of a car crash involving Ron DeSantis in Tennessee on Tuesday, 25 July.

The Republican presidential nominee was involved in a collision while travelling to an event in Chattanooga but was uninjured, his spokesperson Bryan Griffin said.

“We appreciate the prayers and well wishes of the nation for his continued protection while on the campaign trail,” Mr Griffin added.

Mr DeSantis, 44, had been scheduled to hold events in the state on Tuesday.

[25 July 2023 15:20 · John Bowden]

Ron DeSantis has already blown 40 per cent of his campaign donations – on private jets and fancy campaign dinners

Ron DeSantis’s campaign advisers took the rare (and sometimes fatal) step of acknowledging mismanagement of the Florida governor’s presidential bid this weekend, as reports revealed that he is burning through cash with little to show for it.

The Florida governor’s top staff and advisers were in Utah on Sunday where, according to Politico, they appeared in front of dozens of restless campaign donors who have expressed concern about a return on their investments and the overall trajectory of Mr DeSantis’s bid for the White House.

[25 July 2023 15:30 · Eric Garcia]

Nikki Haley leads Ron DeSantis in South Carolina, Fox poll shows

Two new polls from Fox Business show that Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s numbers in the Republican presidential primary continue to tumble in Iow in South Carolina, where the state’s former governor Nikki Haley has eclipsed him.

Fox Business surveyed 806 Iowa Caucus goers between 15 July and 19 July with a margin of error of 3.5 per centage points. It also surveyed 808 South Carolina Republican primary voters within the same time frame with the same margin of error as the Iowa survey.

[25 July 2023 15:45 · Gustaf Kilander]

Four cars in DeSantis motorcade collided with each other as traffic slowed, police say

Mr DeSantis was set to attend fundraisers in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Nashville on Tuesday as his campaign is reported to be floundering both in terms of funding and poll numbers.

The crash took place on I-75 South close to the 2.8-mile marker, south of the 153 exit, according to News Channel 9.

Chattanooga Police told News Channel 9 that it was a minor crash and as traffic slowed down, four cars in the motorcade transporting Mr DeSantis collided with each other. Law enforcement said one of the staffers suffered a minor injury. Mr DeSantis and his staff continued their journey to the fundraisers.

[25 July 2023 16:00 · Ariana Baio]

The presidential candidates who have so far met criteria to join first RNC debate

Six Republican presidential candidates have met the Republican National Committee’s (RNC) new criteria to participate in the first GOP debate on 23 August.

Former president Donald Trump, Florida governor Ron DeSantis, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina senator Tim Scott have all qualified.

[25 July 2023 16:30 · John Bowden]

DeSantis defends Florida curriculum that suggests slaves benefited from forced labour

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis defended a hard-right school curriculum that went into effect in his state this week while on the campaign trail for the Republican presidential nomination.

At an event in Utah, Governor DeSantis defended how slavery will now be taught in Florida middle schools. Children will now be taught that enslaved persons picked up skills that they later “parlayed” into profitable crafts after slavery was abolished.

[25 July 2023 17:00 · AP]

Challenge to Florida drag shows law won't go to trial until next spring

A trial to determine if a new Florida law targeting drag shows is constitutional won’t start until next spring.

A filing posted in federal court in Tallahassee late last week shows that the trial won’t start until the beginning of June 2024. It is scheduled to last two days and will be decided by a judge instead of a jury.

The law, championed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is on hold for now. A federal judge last month issued a temporary injunction preventing it from being enforced until the trial is held. The state of Florida has appealed that decision.

[25 July 2023 17:30 · Michelle L. Price, AP]

How Trump is gaining an advantage in the nitty-gritty battle for delegates

Set aside the polls, the fundraising numbers or Donald Trump’s name recognition as metrics of his early dominance of the Republican presidential contest. He has what could prove to be the most important advantage in the race: a leg up in winning the delegates needed to clinch the GOP nomination.

While the delegate count won’t begin taking shape until voting begins next January, Trump’s edge in the race to win their votes is years in the making. Many state Republican parties made changes to their rules ahead of the 2020 election by adding more winner-take-all contests and requiring candidates to earn higher percentages of the vote to claim any delegates. Those changes all benefit a frontrunner, a position Trump has held despite his mounting legal peril, blame for his party’s lackluster performance in the 2022 elections and the turbulent years of his presidency.