One person close to DeSantis’ political operation was surprised a person at Never Back Down would even write a memo or think it was appropriate to give the campaign advice just a week out from the debate. The response this person received from Republican donors on Thursday was “a chorus of people who think it was dumb,” they said. …

In response to the memo, DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said, “This was not a campaign memo and we were not aware of it prior to the article. We are well accustomed to the attacks from all sides as the media and other candidates realize Ron DeSantis is the strongest candidate best positioned to take down Joe Biden.”

[I guess it was on the level after all, and not a “head fake” — although it was dumb enough to make that a possibility. “Dumb” may not be a strong enough word, in fact. The MYOB riposte from Team DeSantis should probably prompt some head-rolling at Never Back Down. — Ed]