I know I’m not the only reporter whose phone has been burning up with incoming calls from major Republican donors who are mortified that Ron DeSantis actually signed a ban on abortion after six weeks, which is well before the point most women even know they’re pregnant. Since DeSantis signed the legislation, some five days ago, Florida billionaire Tom Peterffy said aloud, in conversation with the Financial Times, a version of a line I’ve been hearing for weeks: “Myself, and a bunch of friends, are holding our powder dry.” Another major donor suggested that Peterffy was sending a message to his fellow mega donors: I don’t like this, and we need to win, so we may need to move on. Sorry, Ronny.

Some donors have been delusional, telling themselves that DeSantis was simply forced to sign the bill to placate the rabid Florida legislature, which was leveraging their power over his ability to stay in the statehouse while running for federal office, like they did previously for Senators Rick Scott and Charlie Crist. But I’ve checked in with multiple leaders in the state legislature at the highest level, and that notion is a farce. DeSantis knows it’s bad general election politics to turn his campaign into another referendum on Roe v. Wade, these people say, but he also sees it as the only way to win the primary election against Trump.