DeSantis super PAC quietly funnelled money into anti-Trump group

The chief group backing Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid made a $2.75 million cash infusion to a pop-up super PAC right around the time that group spent millions attacking former President Donald Trump

The payments from the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down to Win It Back PAC — a group linked to Club for Growth — were revealed in the latter group’s filings with the Federal Election Commission on Tuesday. Win It Back PAC spent more than $6.4 million on digital and TV ads over the summer opposing Trump’s candidacy. It also funded a field program and text messaging.

Most of that money — more than $4.5 million — came directly from the Club for Growth, a longstanding conservative organization that has opposed Trump’s 2024 reelection bid. Never Back Down, which backed DeSantis and was funded in large part with money transferred from the Florida governor’s state campaign, was the group’s second-largest donor.

Win It Back’s efforts to stop Trump were relatively brief, with the last independent expenditures from the group reported in late August. Several of the group’s ads went unaired this fall after a data analysis found that spots attacking the former president for his legal troubles actually backfired with Republican primary voters.