A top aide to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis spoke with Republican gubernatorial candidate James Fishback, a controversial figure who has denied any involvement in the governor's political orbit.
Aide Christina Pushaw spoke with Fishback, his top adviser and Fishback's uncle—South Florida investor and real estate mogul Fred Fishback—about Fishback's gubernatorial campaign, according to a person familiar with the relationship and Fishback's uncle.
Last month, Fishback entered the 2026 Republican primary to succeed DeSantis, who is term-limited and cannot run again because candidate supporting DeSantis who supports the agenda of the outgoing governor. The current favorite is Rep. Byron Donalds, who has Trump's support but is at odds with DeSantis. It is widely believed that the governor is still looking for a candidate to support.
Those in DeSantis' political orbit have pushed back against allegations that they are helping or advising Fishback, whose active social media presence faced criticism. Fishback repeatedly called Donalds, who is Black, “slave” to his political donors and praised the followers of Nick Fuentes, a far-right activist known for his white nationalist and anti-Semitic views, as “impressive.”
When asked about any connection to Fischbeck's orbit, Pushaw said she was not working for the campaign.
“This story is simply not true,” she told NBC News Thursday night. “I don’t work for James Fishback and never have.”
Pushaw was one of DeSantis. the loudest advisors. She helped him build a popular reputation and social media profile among Republican voters ahead of his 2024 presidential bid. Pushaw also developed a large following among conservatives due to her presence on social media and the aggressive manner in which she sometimes fought reporters publicly.
Pushaw has been a Florida government employee since 2021, including as DeSantis' press secretary. She currently earns $180,000 working as a “senior management analyst,” state records show.
NBC News viewed video of Fishback's uncle, Fred, answering questions from a small group of people at the opening party for the Noble Capital Markets conference held last week in Boca Raton, indicating Pushaw's involvement in his political efforts. During the event, Fred Fishbeck can be heard answering questions from a small group of people about Pushaw's involvement in his nephew's campaign and claims to have spoken with her himself.
“I don’t know anything about her other than we had a nice conversation,” Fred Fischbeck said, according to the Dec. 2 video. “She seems like a smart girl.”
In the video, Fred Fishbeck said Pushaw told him she reached out to his nephew after admiring his fast-paced social media posts about conservative politics.
“She loved everything he said and just turned to him,” Fred Fishbeck said in the video. “All I know is that she said he reached out because she liked her stuff on Twitter.”
“They sat down and started talking,” he said.
Fred Fishback was in attendance because he is a longtime friend of rapper Vanilla Ice, who was receiving the award.
Fred Fishbeck confirmed in a text message to NBC News that he discussed Pushaw at the event. He said he spoke to her once while he was on his way to pick up his son from college, but did not specify the date. He said there were several “financial issues” during the phone call with Pushaw, but no direct requests for any political donations.
“To be clear, neither Christina nor James directly asked me for financial support for his campaign, and during our conversation she specifically told me that James was not paying her,” he said, adding, “I sincerely wish everyone the best, especially my nephew, as well as my wonderful state of Florida.”
Pushaw told NBC News she doesn't know Fred Fischbeck.
James Fishback told NBC News on Friday that his uncle was “completely wrong” and added that Pushaw does not work for him.
“Honestly, my uncle is the last person who should be answering questions about my campaign because I haven’t talked to him much about it and I’m not looking to get him involved,” he said, adding that he and his uncle disagree on a number of issues, including artificial intelligence data centers and H-1B visas, but he “loves him very much.”
He admitted that he had dinner with Pushaw in October before he decided to run for governor because she was “brilliant.”
Last month, NBC News reported that a separate adviser to DeSantis, Taryn Fenske, also communicated with Fischbeck, but at the time he said he had not communicated with Pushaw.
It is unclear whether DeSantis is aware that two of his top aides are in touch with Fishback. His office did not respond to a request for comment.
Fishback aide Alex Munguia said during the dinner that the campaign had spoken directly with Pushaw in some capacity, according to a source with direct knowledge of the conversation who said it happened several weeks ago.
The person told NBC News that Munguia told them the campaign had the full support of DeSantis' team. The person said they asked if this support was coming from Pushaw, to which Munguia responded, “Who told you?”
“He fully admitted it,” the person said of Munguia discussing Pushaw’s involvement in the campaign.
When asked about the dinner, Munguia praised Fischbeck.
“James Fishback was a wonderful friend of mine and will be an incredible governor of our state,” he said.
In a social media post written Thursday at 11 p.m. James Fishback said his uncle urged him over the weekend to drop out of the gubernatorial race and support Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins, who is considering a run. James Fishback claimed that Collins lobbied his uncle to help him drop out of the race.
“Today I learned that @JayCollinsFL went to my uncle and asked him to force me to quit the race for Florida governor,” Fishback wrote. “After meeting Collins without my knowledge, my uncle called me over the weekend urging me to drop out and support Collins.”
Pushaw retweeted Fishback's post.
Collins said he is focused on his day-to-day work and not on Fischbeck's allegations.
“Lt. Gov. Jay Collins is focused on serving the people,” a spokesman for Collins said. “Not false and fabricated stories.”
During a conference last week in Boca Raton, Fred Fischbeck was asked if he thought his nephew was being “used” in his gubernatorial campaign, a sentiment he seemed to agree with.
“I see an accident,” he said, according to the video. “I see the crash and burn, but he doesn’t see it.”
