Scott Presler: ‘My goal is to defeat the Democrats,’ not DeSantis or Trump

By Eric Daugherty

Published Mar. 28, 2023, 9:57 a.m. ET | Updated Mar. 28, 2023

Scott Presler partners with Turning Point Action to register students to vote in Wisconsin, March 15, 2023. (Photo/Scott Presler, Twitter)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (FLV) – One well-known grassroots activist has his sight on defeating the Democrats in 2024, and every election until then, rather than engaging in a former President Donald Trump versus Gov. Ron DeSantis rift.

Scott Presler, who toured Florida before the 2022 midterms to help ensure a Republican landslide, said his “philosophy” moving into the GOP primary is to work with anyone concerned with defeating the Democrats.

“I don’t care if you’re a President Trump or Governor DeSantis supporter — I will work w/ you. I don’t care if you’re an Election Day voter or support ballot harvesting — I will work w/ you,” Presler said.

“My goal is to defeat the democrats. Period,” he said.

The activist also used the now-viral tweet to urge Pennsylvania residents to register to vote as a Republican so they can participate in the closed Republican primary.

“Speaking of which, Pennsylvania is a closed primary state.”

The Republican activist gained notoriety for city trash cleanups and called for ballot harvesting as early as 2019, seeing the writing on the wall for future Republican defeats partly, or entirely, caused by systematic changes to voting procedure.

Tensions between Trump and DeSantis’ supporters have grown since the governor’s near 20-point victory in 2022, the moment DeSantis said the former president changed his “tune.”

“Well, I would say if you look at some of the change from that . . . the major thing that’s happened that’s changed his tune was my re-election victory,” he said.

After the Republicans’ below-expectations performance in the 2022 midterms, Presler began a stronger push for ballot harvesting and mail-in voting to prevent another disaster for the party.

“I’ve never been a quitter. I will use this time to recover & then dedicate the next 2 years to winning back the White House. In the states where I registered voters — FL & NY — we won seats. If GOP leadership reaches out to me, I will help. If not, we’ll do it, ourselves,” Presler said late last year.

At his rallies, Trump has begun dedicating moments of his speeches criticizing the governor, who his team expects to challenge the former president for the 2024 GOP nomination.

DeSantis has said that he will visit a “national” political decision once the Florida Legislature wraps up its session in May.