
The messages were set to disappear after one week.

The correspondence obtained by Semafor also offers a glimpse of a strategy that mixes digital aggression and (unsuccessful) attempts to keep the campaign's own activities secret. The chat in Signal, an encrypted messaging app, offers the first clear look into the "war room" that has defined the Florida governor's candidacy, and is presided over by his high-profile and confrontational director of rapid response, Christina Pushaw. The meme-filled videos emerged from a Signal channel called "War Room Creative Ideas," screenshots of which were shared with Semafor and whose authenticity was confirmed by a second source familiar with the campaign.

The videos include two that have created recurring distractions for his campaign in recent weeks: an anti-Trump video that featured a fascist symbol, and another that attacked Donald Trump for past comments supportive of LGBT rights.

Senior aides to Ron DeSantis oversaw the campaign's high-risk strategy of laundering incendiary videos produced by their staff through allied anonymous Twitter accounts, a set of internal campaign communications obtained by Semafor reveals.
