A former Donald Trump advisor is back in the fold after breaking with the former president and shifting to Ron DeSantis – and now declares that it’s time to ‘coalesce and unite’ behind the former president.
Steve Cortes, formerly a spokesman for the pro-DeSantis superpac Never Back Down, called on fellow Republicans to ‘read the room’ in a new op-ed after Trump trounced his opponents in the Iowa caucuses.
‘Those of us who backed Ron DeSantis – or the other Republican candidates – should read the room. Former President Trump winnowed the field effortlessly and then crushed the remaining three candidates in Iowa. He leads in the polls everywhere else. It is time to coalesce and unite behind the clear preference of the GOP grassroots, Donald John Trump,’ he wrote.
He said it was time to ‘coalesce’ around Trump – the same pitch Trump himself is making to voters while his team calls on his rivals to drop out. ‘With the America First movement acting fully in concert, we will win a historic electoral victory that leads to a full restoration of American greatness,’ Cortes predicted.
Cortes, a former Trump advisor and cable news commentator, had denounced Trump’s actions following his attacks on former White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.
Steve Cortes, who served as a senior advisor to Donald Trump but bolted to the pro-DeSantis superpac Never Back Down, said Republicans need to ‘read the room’ and get behind Trump
‘If he wins, what people of gravity and substance would volunteer to work for his administration, knowing how viscously he’s attacked nearly all his former senior staffers?’ he asked.
But before that, back in 2019, at a time when he was still in the Trump fold, he was sanguine when asked by CNN’s Anderson Cooper if it was ‘far fetched to think the president might challenge 2020 results if in fact he lost.’
‘It’s incredibly far fetched,’ he responded. I almost honestly can’t believe we’re talking about this … It to me is absurd. We’re talking about he would, he might, he shall. I mean, it’s all a supposition.’
His public statement came even as Never Back Down was carrying out layoffs, after experiencing turmoil during the last weeks before the Iowa caucuses, where DeSantis came in second but ran far behind Trump.
He had earlier issued warnings about how the DeSantis campaign was performing
Cortes was an advisor to Trump
His call to unite behind Trump follows the former president’s win in the Iowa caucuses
The PAC had been footing the bill for DeSantis events all around Iowa and early primary states.
Even officials in Nevada, which comes third in the nominating process, were let go, the New York Times reported.
That comes as DeSantis is refocusing his efforts on South Carolina, while trailing far behind Trump and Nikki Haley in New Hampshire.
Back in July, while serving as a spokesman for Never Back Down, Cortes acknowledged that DeSantis was ‘far behind.’
‘Right now, in national polling, we are way behind. I’ll be the first to admit that,’ he said. ‘I believe in being really blunt and really honest. It’s an uphill battle.’
He reportedly left his broadcasting role at Newsmax in 2021 in a clash with the company over its COVID vaccine mandate.
He left Never Back Down back in October, but according to the group still backed DeSantis in his ‘personal capacity’ at the time.