DES MOINES, Iowa — 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 seek the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Laxalt, who roomed with DeSantis during naval officer training, will serve as president of the Never Back Down super PAC, the organization confirmed Saturday.
Laxalt chaired Trump’s Nevada 2020 campaign and has repeated Trump’s false claims of fraud about that race, won by Democrat Joe Biden. Laxalt was a public face for many of the Trump campaign’s lawsuits in the swing state that challenged election rules and results. Trump endorsed Laxalt in the 2022 Senate race won by Catherine Cortez Masto, considered one of the most vulnerable Democratic incumbents in the midterm elections.
But Laxalt remains a close friend of DeSantis, who is expected to announce a White House campaign soon. Both were Navy attorney generals and served in Iraq.
Never Back Down was started by Ken Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general who had a high-ranking role in Trump’s Department of Homeland Security. The political group has reported that it has raised 30 million dollars.
One wing of the group has been raising money that could be passed on to DeSantis if he enters the 2024 race. A different wing has begun running pro-DeSantis ads and has responded aggressively to Trump in what has become increasingly a bitter campaign.
The Trump campaign on Friday criticized DeSantis’ management of the state where they both live, saying «Florida continues to descend into complete and utter crime and destruction.» Never Back Down responded Saturday by offering «financial assistance» for Trump to move to California.
Noted Republican operative Jeff Roe, who worked on Laxalt’s failed campaigns in 2018 for governor and last year for the Senate, began as an adviser to Never Back Down last month.