Susie Wiles says her 'nasty' spat with Ron DeSantis is in 'rearview mirror': 'He's a good governor'
'I think he's governing Florida — which is my home state — he's a good governor, and whatever personal differences he had or whatever deficiencies he thought I had are long past my thinking about them,' Wiles, who masterminded DeSantis' narrow 2018 gubernatorial victory, told Post columnist Miranda Devine.
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However, Wiles did confirm Devine's characterization of the falling-out, in which she stated that DeSantis allies 'were very nasty to you and tried to really destroy your career.'
3 Susie Wiles brushed aside her past row with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and praised his governance.
Tamara Beckwith/NY Post
A longtime Florida GOP operative who managed now-Sen. Rick Scott's successful 2010 gubernatorial campaign, Wiles chaired Trump's 2016 effort in the Sunshine State before throwing her lot in with DeSantis in the following cycle.
In his victory speech, DeSantis commended Wiles as the 'best in the business.'
But only months later, Wiles was abruptly booted from Trump's 2020 campaign and left Ballard Partners, a prominent Tallahassee and DC-based lobbying firm, amid reported friction with the DeSantis camp.
3 President Trump praised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis while touring the Everglades' 'Alligator Alcatraz' last week.
REUTERS
DeSantis allies believed that Wiles was behind a leak of memos circulated among the governor's political staff that suggested wealthy donors could leverage their contributions to meet, dine with and even play golf with the Republican. DeSantis denied ever seeing that controversial memo.
Wiles returned to the Trump fold late in the 2020 campaign, as polls showed him consistently trailing Democrat Joe Biden.
She initially served as an unpaid adviser to that year's Republican National Convention organizers. In response, the New York Times reported, DeSantis quietly had his fundraiser, Heather Barker, encourage donors not to open up their wallets.
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Wiles got back on the winning track by assisting Republican Glenn Youngkin in pulling off an upset in the 2021 Virginia gubernatorial race and closely assisted Trump with his activities ahead of the 2022 midterm elections and the former president's subsequent entry into the 2024 race — in which she served as co-campaign manager alongside Chris LaCivita.
Reflecting on Trump's resounding defeat of DeSantis in the 2024 Republican presidential race, Wiles insisted 'it had nothing to do with me.'
3 President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have since mended fences after their bitter 2024 GOP primary battle.
AFP via Getty Images
'It was the president's time, and he did the things that a candidate has to do to get through those early primary states, the first four in particular [Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina].
'The president had done it before; he knew what was involved. We had an organization, an apparatus that supported him and frankly, there was never any question that it was going to end up like it did.'
The Post reached out to DeSantis' team for comment.
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