There was a big splashy EXCLUSIVE article at the Daily Mail on Thursday with a headline that screamed “EXCLUSIVE: Ron DeSantis $50 million super PAC CLOSES after donors were spooked by ‘rookie s*** mistakes.'” Really?

I read the article and it explained that the founder of a Ron DeSantis-supporting super PAC raised $50M from enthusiastic big donors. However, now, because of alleged mistakes the campaign has made, the big donors are scared off from supporting DeSantis. The PAC has switched over to supporting Donald Trump, the article claimed. Something just didn’t seem right about the piece. So, I looked at the FEC page for the super PAC and the latest report

The PAC is called Ron to the Rescue and the founder is John Thomas, described as a Republican strategist. The only time I have read Thomas’ name has been in connection this super PAC, which I’ve written about in past posts. I had never heard the name before DeSantis edged toward running for president. Yesterday, after reading that article in the Daily Mail, I looked for a FEC page to see what kind of money we’re talking about here. Well, that was interesting. The FEC filings show the PAC was registered on November 14, 2022.

The first FEC report is for the 4th quarter of 2022. From 10/01/2022 to 12/31/2022, Total receipts listed is $1,330.00. There is only one donor listed, a person in California listed as a Research Scientist. The donation was $500.00 on 11/17/22. There is a donation listed from John Thomas for $250 on 1/26/23. Those are the only two receipts of donations I find. Where’s the $50M? Who are the big donors Thomas claims to have on board?

So, something looked fishy from the start. I put the story aside because it just wasn’t making sense. Then, on X (formerly Twitter), I saw a post from someone who would know that shined some light on the situation.

It’s pretty hilarious that a guy running a PAC saying he had $50M is theatrically leaving DeSantis for Trump — only for Trump to find out it was a Scam PAC that actually only has $57 to contribute to Trump.

Hope Trump uses that $57 well because they need it! https://t.co/WiJoXek4NE

— Matt Whitlock (@mattdizwhitlock) August 31, 2023

Oh.

Naturally, Trump was all excited and quick to gloat on his social media accounts.

Trump's claims vs. reality. pic.twitter.com/o8yLTTubnU

— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 31, 2023

Oh.

The press secretary for DeSantis weighed in.

Fake PAC, fake story. Debunked. https://t.co/tTQlhymFzf

— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 31, 2023

So, the guy’s a Trump grifter. Shocker. The press loves to help Trump with their coverage of the primary because the Democrats want Trump to be the nominee. This isn’t hard. But, people will just look at the headline at the Daily Mail and accept the story as gospel. I was listening to a live podcast this morning that is done by two conservative women. Normally, they are savvy about politics but they, too, reported the story as fact.

The point is that none of this story makes sense and the numbers are ridiculous. It’s a scam. People have to be careful when making political donations. This guy’s a grifter who supports Trump.

The DeSantis campaign has been warning potential donors and supporters about the PAC from the beginning. Last November, I wrote about the PAC forming and pushing for DeSantis to get into the primary race right away. In the post, there is a quote from Thomas where he admits he’s a big Trump supporter but wants Trump to move from leader to party elder.

In January 2023, I wrote about DeSantis supporters in New Hampshire and the Ron to the Rescue PAC putting out an ad supporting DeSantis. So, publicity for the PAC has been in the background here and there.

Who knows how far into the scam with this PAC that Trump may be? He did his part for the story yesterday, though, by posting on social media about the “highly respected Republican strategist” and promoting the Daily Mail piece.

Anyway, don’t fall for this story, no matter how excited Trump supporters in the media are in reporting about it.

It’s legitimate to talk about mistakes that the DeSantis campaign has made. There is no such thing as a perfect campaign. The Trump campaign may be thinking twice about Trump ditching the RNC debates, since his numbers came down a little after the first one. He still has a big lead in polls but voters were disappointed with the slight. They don’t appreciate being taken for granted. The real super PAC that has supported the DeSantis campaign is the Never Back Down PAC. It has raised a huge amount of money for DeSantis and puts out good ads. The Ron to the Rescue PAC was never affliated with the campaign. As I said, the DeSantis campaign has warned potential donors all along about Thomas and his PAC.

“We’ve made clear from the beginning that this was a scam PAC looking to grift off Ron DeSantis and it comes as welcome news they are no longer attempting to fleece our donors,” DeSantis spokesman Andrew Romeo told the newspaper.

Ron To The Rescue’s funding pales in comparison to Never Back Down, which raised $130m in the most recent FEC reporting period.

Never Back Down, the main super PAC backing DeSantis, raised $130 million in the second quarter of this year. At the end of June it had $96.8 million still to spend, according to election fundraising filings.

Trump has spent millions against DeSantis as he tries to get DeSantis to drop out of the race. He even tried to start a rumor (he spelled it roomer) on social media that DeSantis is dropping out and going to run for the Senate. If only Trump would devote his time and the campaign’s money to trashing Biden instead of DeSantis. Trump is far enough ahead to do that but he is obsessed with DeSantis. This stunt with Thomas has backfired spectacularly.

Don’t fall for the hype, y’all. Donors may be getting concerned but it’s too early for a legit PAC to be pulling support. DeSantis is doing himself a world of good with his excellent leadership through the hurricane in Florida right now. And, he handled the mass shooting really well. Let Ron be Ron.

Trump fell for the ‘news’ because he was in on it, in my opinion. Sad.