Longtime Trump ally Laxalt joins PAC supporting DeSantis
Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a longtime Donald Trump ally, will help lead a political action committee encouraging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024
DES MOINES, Iowa– DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, a longtime ally of Donald Trump, will help lead a political action committee encouraging Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to overturn the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 to strive for.
Laxalt, who resided with DeSantis during his naval officer training, will serve as chairman of the Never Back Down Super PAC, the organization confirmed Saturday.
Laxalt ran Trump’s 2020 Nevada campaign and repeated Trump’s false claims of cheating in relation to that race, which was won by Democrat Joe Biden. Laxalt has been a public face of many Trump campaign lawsuits in the swing state that challenged election rules and outcomes. Trump endorsed Laxalt in the 2022 Senate race, won by Catherine Cortez Masto, who was considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the midterm elections.
But Laxalt has remained a close friend of DeSantis, who is widely expected to announce a White House campaign soon. Both were judge generals in the Navy and served in Iraq.
Never Back Down was created by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia Attorney General who held a senior role in Trump’s Homeland Security Department. The faction has reported raising $30 million.
A wing of the group has raised money that could be sent to DeSantis should he compete in the 2024 race. Another wing has begun running pro-DeSantis ads and aggressively opposing Trump in an increasingly acrimonious campaign.
Trump’s campaign on Friday criticized DeSantis’ management of the state they both live in, saying that “Florida continues to plunge into complete and utter crime and destruction.” Never Back Down responded Saturday by offering Trump “financial assistance” to move to California.
Prominent Republican activist Jeff Roe, who worked on Laxalt’s unsuccessful campaigns in 2018 for governor and last year for the Senate, began last month as an advisor to Never Back Down.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that Laxalt and DeSantis were roommates in Naval Officer Training, not the Naval Justice School.
