On August 30, Ron DeSantis staffer Christina Pushaw was ambushed just outside her home by left-wing activist Grant Stern.
The attack was prompted by an unsubstantiated rumor that Governor DeSantis was planning to drop out of the 2024 presidential primary and instead run against Republican Senator Rick Scott in the Senate race.
The incident occurred outside Pushaw’s home in Miami when Stern approached her asking if she could confirm whether or not DeSantis had decided to withdraw from his presidential campaign.
Pushaw refused to comment and hurriedly went inside her house as soon as she heard her name being called.
Despite this incident, rumors about DeSantis dropping out of the race have been debunked by Bryan Griffin, DeSantis’ press secretary who tweeted on August 28th that “This is fake news” and urged Donald Trump’s army of consultants to focus on helping their candidate instead.
This is fake news. Clearly, Donald Trump and his army of consultants are panicked about @RonDeSantis' winning debate performance and the strong momentum that has followed. They know this is a two-man race, and we will carry this on to a win in this presidential primary. Instead… https://t.co/f4PNHEzHnE
— Bryan Griffin (@BryanDGriffin) August 28, 2023
Former President Donald Trump claimed through a Truth Social post that Governor Ron DeSantis was planning on dropping out of his presidential bid and running for a Senate seat instead.
This statement was immediately countered by Griffin who said it was false information meant to create tension between the two campaigns.
According to FiveThirtyEight’s latest polls released on the morning of August 30, former president Trump currently holds 50.3% support while DeSantis has garnered 14.8%, leaving him over thirty points behind in Republican primary voting numbers.
Obviously this does not bode well for his chances at winning this election cycle if he doesn’t increase his lead soon enough.