It’s post-primary season and Jeff Roe has finally emerged from hibernation, ready to talk about the state of play, his frenemies on the Trump campaign, and his on-and-off relationship with the former president, himself. In a long and extremely candid conversation, he finally broke his silence to me about the historic rise and fall of the Ron DeSantis juggernaut, and offered his assessment of Ted Cruz’s unexpected nailbiter of a race. It’s a juicy conversation and offers ample insight into the reasons why 200 Republican candidates are currently paying Axiom Strategies, Roe’s firm and the largest Republican consultancy in the country, for advice and services. (As usual, this conversation has been edited for length and clarity.)

Kamalamentum Questions

Tara Palmeri: At one point, you were in talks to join the Trump campaign. You ended up deciding to go with DeSantis, but you must have some thoughts on how Trump’s campaign is going and how they’ve adjusted to the Kamala switch. Is it fair to say they’ve been caught flat-footed?