Adam Laxalt, the chairman of Never Back Down, a Super PAC supporting Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination has stepped down. The departure of Laxalt is the second major departure at the Super PAC in the past two week. Just before Thanksgiving, Chris Jankowski resigned as Never Back Down’s CEO.
Both resignations come on the heels of a report stating senior staff with Never Back Down PAC nearly came to blows as frustration mounted over their close competition with Nikki Haley during a meeting of the group’s Board of Directors. The National Pulse reported at the time the PAC’s senior strategist Jeff Roe was involved in an altercation with Scott Wagner – a friend and confidant of Governor DeSantis.
“You have a stick up your ass, Scott,” Roe is alleged to have shouted at Wagner, according to witnesses in the room, to which Wagner fired back, taunting, “Why don’t you come over here and get it?” Wagner also reportedly rose from his chair and had to be restrained by other board members.
The departure of Laxalt is an especially concerning blow for DeSantis, however. The two have long been friends and were even roommates during Naval officer training. “After nearly 26 straight months of being in a full-scale campaign, I need to return my time and attention to my family and law practice,” a letter from Laxalt to the Never Back Down board read. While news of the the resignation is just now becoming public, Laxalt’s letter to the Super PAC’s board was dated November 26. This gives further credibility to rumors suggesting the Jankowski, and now Laxalt, resignations are directly tied to Jeff Roe’s outburst, underhanded tactics, and mismanagement of the PAC.
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