FACT CHECK: Did The Super PAC ‘Ron To The Rescue’ Change Support With $50 Million On Hand?

Joseph Casieri | Fact Check Reporter

A post shared on social media purports that a Super PAC has recently shifted its support for Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis to former President Donald Trump’s campaign.

Verdict: Misleading

While the PAC has changed support, DeSantis has labeled the PAC as a scam since 2022. The PAC likely does not have $50 million.

Fact Check:

DeSantis has returned to the campaign trail after briefly suspending his campaign to attend to issues after the Jacksonville mass shooting that killed three people, USA Today reported. The Governor also oversaw the response to the Hurricane Idalia that made landfall in Florida last week, according to the outlet.

The Twitter post purports, due to numerous mistakes by the DeSantis campaign, the $50 million PAC called “Ron to the Rescue” has changed its support to Trump. The tweet garnered over 3k likes.

The caption reads in part, “Governor Ron DeSantis’ $50 million super PAC is shutting down as donors are beginning to jump ship. According to the Daily Mail, the super PAC will now be backing Donald Trump after they accused the governor of making ‘rookie s***” mistakes.'”

There are credible news reports that suggest this PAC has shifted its support, such as the Daily Mail. The PAC, called Ron to the Rescue, no longer supports DeSantis following a series of miscues by the campaign, according to the article.

However, it appears that the PAC was never formally affiliated with the DeSantis campaign. FEC filings from November 2022, when the campaign was first established, listed the PAC as an “independent expidenture-only political committee,” or a Super PAC. The designation was listed as “unauthorized,” according to the filing.

A Fox News report form Nov, 2022 indicated that DeSantis legal team wrote a letter to supports warning them about the PAC claiming, “This is similar to other ‘pro-DeSantis’ PACs that have formed and continue to use Ron DeSantis’ name and likeness to raise funds without his permission or authorization.”(RELATED: No, Tom Hanks Is Not Playing Osama Bin Laden In A New Netflix Production)

Additional filings for June 30 shows the Pac likely did not have $50 million on hand for the DeSantis campaign. between Jan. 1 and June 30, the campaign had only $291.01 in total receipts, showing one donation from the founder of the PAC and Republican strategist John Thomas. Approximately $250 was given to the New Hampshire Republican state committee before a similar donation to the PAC by Thomas was listed, disbursement records show.

The PAC listed no additional donations to the organization between July 1 and Sept. 5, when the termination report was filed. The campaign ended with $0 on hand, records indicated.

Andrew Romeo, the communications director for the DeSantis campaign, told the Daily Mail in response to Ron to the Rescue saying, “We’ve made clear from the beginning that this was a scam PAC looking to grift off Ron DeSantis and it comes as welcome news they are no longer attempting to fleece our donors.”

Recently DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw posted in response to this Daily Mail report saying, “This ScamPac ‘Ron to the Rescue’ first surfaced last year and @RonDeSantis lawyers warned that it’s not associated with DeSantis so people should NOT give them money.”

Check Your Fact has contacted the DeSantis campaign for further comment on the PAC. We also contacted the Trump campaign for information on any support that this PAC gives to their agenda. We will update this piece if a response is provided.

Joseph Casieri

Fact Check Reporter

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