Last week there was a report at NBC News saying Gov. Ron DeSantis was preparing to jump into the presidential race in mid-May.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is poised to jump into the presidential fray as soon as mid-May, four GOP operatives familiar with the conversations told NBC News.

One of the sources emphasized that it would be an exploratory committee, with the official launch coming soon after.

Some of his backers are urging him to declare as early as May 11, to counter the creeping national narrative that former President Donald Trump is the overwhelming front-runner for the 2024 GOP nomination. Others in the governor’s orbit, however, have argued that that date would be too soon, according to two of those sources. All emphasized, however, that mid-May is the target.

The 11th would be next Thursday so it’s still possible that could happen. An exploratory committee is just a way to act like a candidate without actually committing to run.

Exploratory committees are essentially a half-measure for the indecisive; they let would-be presidents do many of the things candidates do (raise money, hire a staff, conduct polls) without technically being one. Exploratory committees (also known as “testing-the-waters” committees) don’t have to report to the Federal Election Commission, but they do have to follow its rules. And the minute the non-candidate announces their intention to run or takes action to qualify for the ballot, they legally become a candidate and have to report all their financial activity from the exploratory phase.

Five-Thirty-Eight says the main advantage of forming one is that you get to make two announcements instead of just one, but they’re not actually necessary.

Today, ABC News has a report on the nascent DeSantis campaign that contradicts the one from NBC. According to ABC, DeSantis plans to skip the exploratory committee and move directly to a full campaign. In fact, DeSantis is said to already be prepping for the primary debates.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving more aggressively toward making his 2024 presidential campaign official, with sources telling ABC News the governor’s team is leaning toward skipping the launch of an exploratory committee altogether and is instead expected to launch a full presidential campaign next month…

DeSantis will enter the race with just months to go until the first Republican primary debate — and although he has yet to formally announce, his team has already quietly begun debate prep, sources familiar with the preparations have told ABC News, including reviewing past debate performances.

At this point, the story seems to take a curious turn that makes me wonder who is doing the leaking here.

…sources said the governor’s strategy heading into the debates will be more focused on introducing the governor on a national stage rather than getting into a sparring match with the former president. However, the team has been paying close attention to how to help manage the governor’s facial reactions in the upcoming debate, sources said.

“Ron always had a problem with letting attacks get to him and getting visibly shaken by them,” one former adviser, who was previously involved in debate prep with DeSantis, told ABC News. “Not sure how that would play with Trump standing across from him.”

The next four paragraphs in the story are about a former Democratic rival, Heather Beaven, who says DeSantis “goes right to anger” and has “a thin skin.”

I’ve said before that DeSantis doesn’t have the same facility with words as some of the best candidates but that’s not everything. If being a smooth talker and always cool-headed was a requirement for the job, Joe Biden definitely wouldn’t be president.