Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has directed his top fundraiser to steer donations away from the upcoming Republican National Convention as a result of a feud with a former campaign manager, The New York Times reports. Last month, President Trump moved the convention to Florida from North Carolina after a fight over coronavirus precautions. Now DeSantis—as a result of a dispute with his former campaign manager Susie Wiles, who serves as an adviser to the RNC’s planners—has ordered Heather Barker, his top fundraiser, to tell donors not to give money to the RNC. Barker has reportedly informed donors in no uncertain terms of DeSantis’ refusal to involve himself because of Wiles’ presence. On a recent call that involved DeSantis, Wiles, and Trump, DeSantis said outright that she was an overrated political strategist, according to the Times. DeSantis and Wiles have been at loggerheads since late last year, when he accused her of leaking embarrassing information.
The same day the news broke, DeSantis held a press conference and advocated for Florida’s schools to reopen as soon as possible despite surging coronavirus cases in his state, comparing the complexity of packing students into a classroom to a shopping trip: “We spent months saying that there were certain things that were essential, and that included fast food restaurants, it included Walmart, it included Home Depot... If you can do these things, we absolutely can do the schools.”
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