Democratic group launches opposition database targeting DeSantis

A major Democratic Super PAC on Monday unveiled an opposition research hub targeting Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), highlighting the governor’s past views on critical issues as he weighs a 2024 presidential bid.

American Bridge 21st Century launched the “Ron Desantis Research Book,” which looks at existing reporting on the governor’s views and record on abortion, entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, education, COVID-19, and the economy, as well as his past comments on the legitimacy of elections and about former President Donald Trump. The site will also include information on DeSantis’ record while serving as a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Florida.

“For the past year, American Bridge has been hard at work compiling the most extensive and exhaustive public file on 2024 Republican presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis,” American Bridge 21st Century President Pat Dennis said in a statement. “This website weaves together all the information we have gathered on DeSantis over the past decade and paints the picture of a MAGA extremist caught up in culture wars, unfit for office, and utterly unprepared for the public pressure that comes with a contentious Republican presidential primary.”

American Bridge launched a similar database targeting then-President Donald Trump during the 2020 campaign. The group said it would continue to update its research playbooks on both Trump and DeSantis as it gathers more information about both men throughout the 2024 campaign.

DeSantis has not yet announced whether he is running for president in 2024, but he is widely expected to get into the race in the coming months. He has been quietly assembling staff, and an outside pro-DeSantis group has also hired several staffers in recent weeks who previously worked with former President Trump in his administration or campaign.

The governor is widely viewed as Trump’s most formidable potential challenger based on polling data. Some polls in individual states have shown DeSantis leading Trump, including in Florida, Georgia and Iowa.

But national polls have shown Trump with a healthy lead over DeSantis and other potential challengers for the 2024 GOP nomination. A Fox News poll released last week found Trump with 54 percent support among GOP primary voters, with DeSantis the next closest candidate at 24 percent.

DeSantis has drawn scrutiny in recent weeks for his comments about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which he characterized as a “territorial dispute” in a statement to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Trump has also targeted DeSantis over his record on Social Security. CNN reported that DeSantis in 2012 spoke on the campaign trail about privatizing Social Security, and as a congressman he backed nonbinding budget resolutions to raise the retirement age to 70 for seniors to collect Social Security benefits.

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