Leaked audio from FloridaPolitics.com has revealed that donors are worried about Governor Ron DeSantis’ abortion ban. The DeSantis campaign shared points with fundraisers on how to talk about the issue, predicting that it wasn’t as important to voters as President Biden’s age. The DeSantis 2024 campaign believes that voters who decide the general election are more concerned about the economic turmoil and the age of President Biden than with the issue of abortion rights. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis plans to win the election with this strategy, as he prepares to begin his early voting tour of the state next week.
During a presentation by DeSantis campaign aides who shared issues and polls with potential donors known as Bandler, one Bandler expressed concern about how to talk about abortion rights. Tyson warned that Democrats would campaign on abortion “regardless of position.” He argued that anti-abortion was just “a killer move for a pissing candidate.”
There are signs that DeSantis’ anti-abortion track record is seen as a vulnerability. DeSantis signed a near-total abortion bill last month without a public ceremony just before midnight, putting pressure on former President Donald Trump to say whether he would sign the bill into law. The law, which bans abortions after six weeks of pregnancy, will take effect if the state Supreme Court upholds the 15-week abortion ban bill DeSantis signed into law last year.
Tyson stressed his response at the donor meeting, but anti-abortion activists were criticized when the Washington Post reported that President Trump informally told his advisers that abortion rights should be determined by states. Tyson said, “There are ways the federal government can save lives, but the best way to protect abortion is at the state level.”
The favored voters said they belonged to former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson, as they want people who are “thoughtful” and “sensitive.” Tyson concluded that the majority of Republican primary voters are more conservative. “To be a general, you have to win the primary,” he added when asked by donors for his point.
Whether the strict ban is for general elections or presidential primaries remains an open question, but the issue proved to be damaging to Congressional Republicans in the 2022 midterm elections. Adding to the buzz, there was someone in the room that the insider couldn’t identify from the voice. He falsely said that “abortion happens on plan B” and urged donors to point out that most people have access to contraception. Plan B is a preventative form of birth control known as “emergency contraception” and does not cause abortion.