Ron DeSantis thinks pot is a menace to society. His biggest backer is working to legalize it.

Ron DeSantis is no fan of weed.

The Florida governor recently called recreational pot a “real problem,” lamented marijuana’s “stench” and grimly warned that “drugs are killing this country.”

There's just one hitch: The person effectively running DeSantis’ presidential campaign is orchestrating a pro-pot push in Florida.

Axiom Strategies and Vanguard Field Strategies, firms helmed by prominent Republican strategist Jeff Roe, have been paid nearly $29 million by an organization pushing a 2024 ballot initiative that would legalize recreational marijuana. A DeSantis-aligned attorney general is fighting their work, and the governor himself has said he broadly opposes legalization.

But as Axiom and Vanguard try to circumvent DeSantis’ opposition to weed in Florida, they’re also trying to get him elected president — in part on an anti-weed platform.

Axiom and Vanguard have been paid over $25 million by the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down through the end of June, making them the super PACs’ highest-paid vendors. Never Back Down oversees much of the DeSantis campaign, standing up get-out-the-vote programs, hosting events he appears at and even providing transportation for the governor.

That the firms have taken on conflicting clients illustrates the peril that comes with how DeSantis has designed his political apparatus, something that has increasingly become a topic of discussion within the governor’s orbit. Because the campaign and super PAC are legally prohibited from coordinating, DeSantis has had to bet his political future on an outfit whose approach and interests don’t always align with his own.

There have been growing tensions and finger-pointing in recent weeks between the DeSantis campaign and Never Back Down, as the two organizations have grappled with how to improve the governor’s standing in a primary where his prospects have diminished.

DeSantis allies say he was infuriated by the super PAC’s decision to post on Axiom’s website a memo offering instructions on the strategy he should adopt in last month’s debate. They argue the memo made it harder for DeSantis, boxing him in and setting expectations for his performance.

A few weeks later, a recording emerged from a Never Back Down donor briefing in which Roe said that DeSantis had a 60-day window, beginning on Labor Day, in order to defeat former President Donald Trump and that he needed to move ahead of his other GOP rivals “now.” The declaration, some Republicans said, put an arbitrary time frame on when DeSantis would need to surpass Trump, who is leading the governor by wide margins in polling.

The conflict between DeSantis and his super PAC team over pot use threatens to complicate the governor’s efforts to cast himself as tough on even recreational drugs. If successful, the initiative could also prove to be an embarrassment for the governor: Putting him out of step with his own constituents on a hot-button cultural issue.

During a recent event hosted by Never Back Down, the governor expressed concern that pot had grown increasingly potent in recent years and that it could be laced with fentanyl, potentially endangering children who use it.

“I think it’s a real, real problem, and I think it’s a lot different than stuff that people were using 30 or 40 years ago,” DeSantis said. “And I think when kids get on that, I think it causes a lot of problems.”

The recreational marijuana initiative, which has been funded largely by marijuana giant Trulieve, is viewed by Florida Democrats as a potential vehicle for reviving their moribund status in the state. Party officials and volunteers have been working to gather signatures for it.

But there is no guarantee that it will actually make the ballot. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a DeSantis ally who has endorsed his White House campaign, has filed a brief with the conservative-leaning state Supreme Court urging for it to be struck down.

Axiom is one of the Republican Party’s largest consulting firms and has long taken on a wide array of clients. The breadth of its portfolio, those familiar with the firm say, has occasionally resulted in Axiom concurrently working for clients who have ideological differences. The firm’s work for Florida’s pro-marijuana initiative began in 2022, months before it signed on with Never Back Down this past March.

Since last year, Axiom and Vanguard have emerged as the largest vendors for Smart & Safe Florida, the outfit that is spearheading the pot initiative, which would allow for adults 21 years of age and older to obtain marijuana for non-medical use. The firms combined account for more than 70 percent of the total amount spent by the group.

“Axiom is a company with hundreds of employees where it’s not uncommon to have different team members working on different projects,” said Chris Pack, an Axiom spokesperson. “Axiom signed with Smart & Safe Florida in June 2022 and Never Back Down in March 2023. These two entities are totally separate from one another, which is why nobody in the media has written about this since it was first reported on months ago.”

Representatives for Smart & Safe Florida did not respond to an inquiry. A DeSantis spokesperson declined to comment, though they pointed to remarks the governor has made conveying his opposition to the legalization of recreational marijuana.

The pro-cannabis initiative has turned into a major political fight. Smart & Safe Florida has reported obtaining more than 960,000 signatures, more than the total it needs to qualify for the ballot. But Moody has moved to strike the initiative, arguing that it “misleads” voters and would financially benefit Trulieve, the cannabis company that is bankrolling the campaign. The pro-marijuana organization has aggressively pushed back, saying that the attorney general’s argument “strains credulity.”

While DeSantis has expressed openness to the use of medical marijuana, he has aggressively established himself as opposed to legalization for recreational purposes. Last year, the governor complained about the drug’s “pungent odor” and said he wanted Floridians “to be able to breathe freely.”

DeSantis has signed legislation tightening restrictions on advertising that would promote recreational marijuana use. And while campaigning earlier this year, the governor said he would not decriminalize marijuana if elected president and that the drug “hurts our workforce readiness” and “people’s ability to prosper.”

Jessica Piper contributed to this report.

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Anti-affirmative action group sues West Point over race-conscious admissions

The anti-affirmative action group whose Supreme Court case struck down race-conscious admissions practices at Harvard is now going after West Point.

Lawyers on behalf of Students for Fair Admissions on Tuesday sued the military academy over its alleged use of race and ethnicity in admissions decisions. Also listed as defendants are: the Defense Department, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, U.S. Military Academy Superintendent Steven Gilland and West Point Admissions Director Rance Lee.

“Instead of admitting future cadets based on objective metrics and leadership potential, West Point focuses on race,” the lawsuit said. “In fact, it openly publishes its racial composition ‘goals,’ and its director of admissions brags that race is wholly determinative for hundreds if not thousands of applicants.”

While the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admissions policies at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, it exempted military schools. A footnote in the high court’s June opinion acknowledged that the United States government contended that “race-based admissions programs further compelling interests at our Nation’s military academies.”

The justices said that because no military academy was a party, the opinion did not address the admissions issue at these schools “in light of the potentially distinct interests that military academies may present.”

SFFA, however, argues that the school has “no justification for using race-based admissions” and that because it is illegal at other universities, West Point “is not exempt from the Constitution.” SFFA President Edward Blum also launched a website titled West Point Not Fair, which asks students whether they were rejected from West Point, the Naval Academy or the Air Force Academy.

“Over the years, courts have been mindful of the military’s unique role in our nation’s life and the distinctive considerations that come with it,” Blum said in a statement. “However, no level of deference justifies these polarizing and disliked racial classifications and preferences in admissions to West Point or any of our service academies.”

What’s in the lawsuit: The 29-page lawsuit was filed in the White Plains Division of the Southern District Court of New York. The lawsuit dives into the admissions process at West Point, which trains future military officers and is highly selective. The New York academy enrolls about 1,200 to 1,300 cadets in each class, according to the court filing, and admits less than 10 percent of applicants.

Applicants are asked to pass medical exams and a physical fitness test, and earn a nomination from a member of Congress, the vice president or the president. Then, prospective students who have been officially nominated must be accepted by West Point’s admissions office.

SFFA’s lawsuit takes issue with racial preferences used by the admissions office, and the school’s nondiscrimination policy on its website that says “the United States Military Academy is fully committed to affirmative action.”

West Point uses racial balancing for incoming classes and sets benchmarks for how many students who are African American, Hispanic or Asian American will be admitted, SFFA’s lawsuit contends. The court filing included the school’s class composition chart that breaks down enrollment by race and total class size.

“West Point goes to great lengths to achieve these racial-balancing goals,” the lawsuit said, adding that the former admissions director once said, “‘[a] couple of years ago, every qualified African-American applicant were [sic] offered admission into West Point, yet the class composition goal was still lacking.’”

What SFFA wants: SFFA argues that West Point’s admissions practices are violating the Fifth Amendment, which contains an equal-protection principle that binds the federal government. It also lists two unnamed white members who are “ready and able” to apply to West Point once it stops using race as a determinative factor.

The group has asked the court to declare that the institution's use of race is unconstitutional and to put in place a preliminary injunction to stop West Point from considering or knowing an applicant’s race when making admissions decisions.

“For most of its history, West Point has evaluated cadets based on merit and achievement,” the lawsuit said. “America’s enemies do not fight differently based on the race of the commanding officer opposing them, soldiers must follow orders without regard to the skin color of those giving them, and battlefield realities apply equally to all soldiers regardless of race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

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Canada expels diplomat amid allegations India involved in killing Canadian

Canada is expelling a top Indian diplomat in the wake of bombshell allegations that agents from India may have been involved in the killing of a Canadian citizen, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly announced Monday.

The diplomat is the head of India's foreign intelligence agency operations in Canada, Pavan Kumar Rai.

If the allegations are proven true, Joly said, it would be a “grave violation of our sovereignty and the most basic rule of how countries deal with each other.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivered an urgent address to lawmakers in Parliament Monday afternoon informing them Canada’s security agencies have been pursuing for weeks “credible allegations of a potential link between agents of the Government of India” and the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar earlier this summer on Canadian soil.

“Canada has declared its deep concerns to the top intelligence and security officials of the Indian government,” Trudeau said when he delivered the news in an urgent statement to Canadian lawmakers in Parliament. “Last week at the G-20, I brought them personally and directly to Prime Minister Modi in no uncertain terms.”

It comes as Canada’s bilateral relations with India fall under increasing strain.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised concerns with Trudeau on the sidelines of the G20 summit last week regarding Sikh separatist protests in Canada.

Canada abruptly suspended a trade mission with India Friday amid strained relations between the two countries.

Canada’s Liberal government had been prioritizing stronger relations with India, a key partner in its Indo-Pacific trade and diplomacy strategy.

Nijjar, a British Columbia Sikh leader part of a separatist movement and designated a terrorist by New Delhi, was fatally shot inside of his car in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in Surrey, B.C., on June 18.

“We’ve been clear we will not tolerate any form of foreign interference,” Joly told reporters.

Joly said she has raised the matter with key allies and plans to raise the issue with her G7 counterparts this evening in New York.

“Right now, we know we are in an international security crisis and one of the fundamental rules behind the world’s stability and security is the protection of each country’s sovereignty,” she said. “We see this possible breach of sovereignty as completely unacceptable.”

Trudeau has already raised the issue with President Joe Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Joly said.

Canada's Public Safety Minister Dominic LeBlanc said the prime minister’s national security and intelligence adviser, Jody Thomas, and the head of Canada’s intelligence agency, have traveled several times in recent weeks to India to confront Indian intelligence with the allegations.

The news landed the same day that Canada’s recently announced commissioner overseeing an independent public inquiry into foreign interference started in her new role. She has until end of next year to produce a final report, according to the terms of the inquiry.

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Trump to speak to autoworkers instead of attending second GOP debate

Former President Donald Trump will speak in Detroit to current and former members of the autoworkers union on Sept. 27, the day of the second Republican primary debate, according to three people familiar with the plan.

The news of the trip comes days after autoworkers in Michigan, Missouri and Ohio began strikes targeting plants run by Big Three car manufacturers. The New York Times first reported Trump’s plans.

This will be the second time Trump, the current front-runner in the GOP race, decides to forgo a 2024 presidential debate. The former president skipped the first debate in August and instead sat for an interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

The GOP debate will be held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute in Simi Valley, Calif.

Trump's team has not yet released details on where the speech will be held, but it is expected he will address over 500 union workers representing different trades, including autoworkers. And while a visit to the picket line has been discussed, a person familiar said it was "unlikely" Trump would make a visit due to logistics.

Trump plans to give his speech during prime time, potentially conflicting with — and overshadowing — the second GOP debate in California.

Trump has not officially weighed in on the strike, although he posted to Truth Social on Sunday night, "The United Autoworkers are being sold down the "drain" with this all Electric Car SCAM." Along with Trump's visit to Detroit, his team also plans to release a radio ad targeting union workers.

In a statement, UAW president Shawn Fain described Trump's decision to come to Detroit as out of touch.

“Every fiber of our union is being poured into fighting the billionaire class and an economy that enriches people like Donald Trump at the expense of workers," Fain said. "We can’t keep electing billionaires and millionaires that don’t have any understanding what it is like to live paycheck to paycheck and struggle to get by and expecting them to solve the problems of the working class.”

Trump was critical of Fain during an interview that was taped before UAW workers began their strike.

“I’m on the side of making our country great," Trump told NBC's "Meet the Press." "The autoworkers are being sold down the river by their leadership, and their leadership should endorse Trump."

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Ukraine sues Poland, Hungary and Slovakia over import bans

The decision comes after the three countries rebelled against a European Commission decision to end temporary import restrictions.

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Virginia Rep. Wexton will not seek reelection, citing new diagnosis

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) announced on Monday that she will not seek reelection after receiving an updated, more serious diagnosis of progressive supranuclear palsy.

Wexton revealed in April that she'd been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, saying at the time that she hoped to continue serving “for many years to come.” But she sought additional testing after she had not been making the progress “to manage my symptoms that I had hoped,” Wexton, 55, said in a statement, leading to the new diagnosis of PSP, which she called “a kind of Parkinson's on steroids." The two conditions are often confused when first diagnosing a patient because they have similar symptoms.

“I’m heartbroken to have to give up something I have loved after so many years of serving my community,” Wexton said in the statement. “But taking into consideration the prognosis for my health over the coming years, I have made the decision not to seek reelection once my term is complete and instead spend my valued time with Andrew, our boys, and my friends and loved ones.”

Earlier this year, Wexton said the disease had primarily affected her speech and how her mouth moved, causing her to speak more quickly. It has also impacted her balance and the way she walks.

“I’ve always believed that honesty is the most important value in public service, so I want to be honest with you now — this new diagnosis is a tough one,” Wexton said. “There is no ‘getting better’ with PSP. I’ll continue my treatment options to manage my symptoms, but they don’t work as well with my condition as they do for Parkinson’s.”

Wexton was elected in 2018 when she defeated Republican Barbara Comstock and ended 40 years of GOP control of the district. She won reelection last year in the midterms. Wexton’s announcement on Monday now leaves open a vulnerable House seat.

Wexton was a staunch Trump critic and said in a Washington Post interview that she wouldn’t have run for the House if Trump wasn’t president. Wexton gained national prominence after she was elected when she displayed a trans flag outside her Capitol Hill office in 2019.

Virginia lawmakers on Monday came out in support of Wexton for her decision to not seek reelection. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said she had “served Virginians with dignity and strength.”

“No one could tackle this with more grace and tenacity than you, Jennifer,” Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said Monday. “In Congress and across Northern Virginia, we are with you.”

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F-35 fighter jet still missing a day after pilot ejects, military says

Personnel on Monday were still searching for an F-35 fighter jet that went missing on Sunday after its pilot ejected, according to a statement from a South Carolina military base.

“Teams continue to search for the U.S. Marine Corps F-35B, using ground and air assets,” Joint Base Charleston posted on Monday afternoon.

The base is coordinating with local Marine, Navy and Air Force personnel to find the stray plane, according to the base.

“We appreciate the support we’ve received from our mission partners and every organization involved, as integrated teams are searching and preparing for the recovery of the jet,” the base wrote.

The pilot ejected safely from the Marine Corps aircraft, which can take off and land vertically. The base reported on Sunday that the jet’s last-known position was north of Joint Base Charleston, near Lake Moultrie and Lake Marion.

The base has since called on the public to help, asking those with information to call the facility’s operations center at (843) 963-3600.

Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) expressed her disbelief at the situation on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

“How in the hell do you lose an F-35? How is there not a tracking device and we’re asking the public to what, find a jet and turn it in?” she wrote.

Mace added that she was briefed by Marine Corps personnel on the situation on Monday, but it was “one of the shortest meetings I’ve eve[r] had” because no one “had any answers. Shocker.”

Base spokesperson Jeremy Huggins told the Washington Post on Sunday that the F-35’s transponder was not working “for some reason that we haven’t yet determined.”

“So that’s why we put out the public request for help,” he said.

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