Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis shrugged off the narrative that his campaign has stalled and even promised to win a key primary state during a CNN interview on Tuesday.
DeSantis told CNN anchor Jake Tapper that his campaign is doing fine financially and has enough cash to compete for the long haul, according to the network. The DeSantis campaign reportedly raked in $20 million in donations between May and the end of June. However, his campaign has reportedly spent money at a high rate, leading the operation to lay off less than 10 staffers, the Associated Press reported. The campaign reportedly spent $8 million within 6 weeks, with $3 million being saved for the general election. (RELATED TO: Trump Calls DeSantis A ‘Terrible Candidate’ Who Is ‘Out’ Of The Republican Primary)
During a press conference on Tuesday morning, DeSantis addressed the reports his campaign is facing a cash-crunch.
“When you start there’s certain investments that you make. We really believe having an important apparatus on the ground is important in caucus states and in early states,” DeSantis said, CNN reported. “Making investments and growing the ability to attract more supporters and all that, so that’s just kind of what you need to do.”
Tapper asked DeSantis if he believed he would win the South Carolina primary. DeSantis answered in the affirmative.
“Yeah, we are. I think it is a great setup for me. I’m the only veteran running. I’ll be the first president elected since 1988 that’s served in a war. There’s very few states in this country with a stronger active duty military duty presence and veteran presence than here. We’ve also got great support in the upcountry in South Carolina that we’re building. And of course my wife went to college at Charleston so we know the low country well, and I think we’re gonna be able to build a lot of support here,” DeSantis said.