Ron DeSantis has launched a multi-state campaign campaign in Iowa, stopping on his first campaign tour since announcing his candidacy for the 2024 United States presidential race.
The Florida governor on Tuesday addressed about 500 people gathered at a church in a suburb of Des Moines, in his opening performance of a three-state tour with 12 stops scheduled over four days.
DeSantis, seen as former President Donald Trump’s main Republican rival, will travel to the early primary states of New Hampshire and South Carolina later this week.
The appearance comes six days after a stumbled online campaign announcement that raised questions about his readiness for the national stage. After the glitchy launch, DeSantis opens his campaign looking up to Trump in the polls as he faces lingering questions about his ability to personally connect with voters.
DeSantis’ Tuesday night stop at Eternity Church in Clive is a striking nod to the evangelical Christians wielding excessive influence in the Iowa Republican presidential primary. His visit will give voters the opportunity to meet the new candidate just as he has stepped up his criticism of Trump.
“He has a big hill to climb — and I think everyone would agree — to convince people that he can beat Trump, that he can do his job just as well if not better than Trump,” Bernie said. Hayes, the Republican chairman in Linn County, where DeSantis plans to wrap up his Iowa outing on Wednesday.
DeSantis has been under attack from Trump for months, including another round of attacks this week.
Trump’s latest recordings focused on DeSantis’ leadership as Florida governor during the pandemic. The former president wrote on his social media platform that Florida was “third WORST state in Deaths by Covid.”
“So why do they say DeSanctus did a good job? New York had fewer deaths!” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, a pro-Trump Super Political Action Committee (PAC) this week continued to run ads on Iowa television accusing DeSantis of wanting to raise taxes, a charge DeSantis has denied.
Kim Riesberg of the City of Dallas Center, Iowa, attended the DeSantis launch with her husband. She voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, but said she’s not necessarily committed to him this time. The couple was eager to attend because they are interested in DeSantis’ platform.
DeSantis is a “little softer,” said the 59-year-old, and “more appealing to the masses.”
Since Trump and DeSantis are competing for the same job, she understands it could be a bitter race. But, Riesberg added, “at some point I’d like to see them on the same team”.
She may have to wait a while.
DeSantis has moved from slashing Trump to direct questioning of the former president’s conservative credentials — particularly his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his track record — in recent days during a round of interviews with media friends last week. in the field of criminal law.
DeSantis called a bipartisan bill Trump signed in 2018 that lowered mandatory minimum federal prison sentences and allowed a path for nonviolent offenders to reduce jail time, “a jailbreak law.” As a member of Congress, DeSantis voted in favor of an early draft of the measure, but left Congress after being elected governor and before the final, less strict bill was passed.
DeSantis also said Trump falsely “handed over the country to [Anthony] Fauci,” the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases who helped lead the country’s COVID-19 response.
DeSantis announced his campaign on May 24 during an online conversation with Twitter CEO Elon Musk. The audio stream crashed repeatedly, making it difficult for most users to hear the announcement in real time, a stumbling campaign official and others were soon dismissed as a minor setback.
DeSantis was undeterred in his message that conservative Florida legislative victories are the antidote to what he calls a nation increasingly controlled by the far left.
As governor, DeSantis has spearheaded bills targeting cultural topics such as limiting discussions of sexual orientation in schools. He’s also gone after Disney to strip the state entertainment giant of its self-governing authority for opposing the state law, which critics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.”
“The American decline is not inevitable. It’s a choice,” DeSantis said during the glitchy audio stream. “And we must choose a new direction, a path that will lead to American revitalization.”
DeSantis is off to a flying start in Iowa and other early voting states, thanks to the super PAC Never Back Down.
The group can receive unlimited money from wealthy donors and has used that money to organize support for the governor. Campaign finance laws require the group to do its job without consulting DeSantis.
The DeSantis campaign and the pro-DeSantis super PAC worked side by side outside Eternity Church in Clive on Tuesday. Super PAC volunteers signed up supporters to pitch in for the caucus for DeSantis as music blared nearby. On the other hand, DeSantis campaign staff and volunteers guided attendees through security.
The same dynamic was expected at events scheduled for Wednesday in conservative western Iowa’s Sioux City and Council Bluffs, as well as in east-central Iowa’s manufacturing and college town of Pella. DeSantis’ visit to Iowa will end in Cedar Rapids.
By making his offer official, DeSantis gives the super PAC a rally figure whose events he can attend even if he can’t coordinate with his official campaign group.
That approach is aimed at maximizing super PAC dollars. It’s also a way to help DeSantis race in Iowa to capture Trump, whose campaign says it’s helped thousands of supporters thanks to a more disciplined, data-driven outreach effort, compared to his 2016 campaign.
Trump has tried to shadow DeSantis in Iowa to demonstrate his own popularity. In March, Trump headlined an event at a theater in Davenport, three days after DeSantis addressed an audience there while touring to promote his memoir.
Trump is scheduled to return to Iowa on Thursday, the day after DeSantis’ tour. The former president is expected to hold events in the Des Moines area, meet with influential conservatives and sit for an interview with Fox News Channel host Sean Hannity that evening.
Jack Spoonemore attended DeSantis’ performance at his church of nine years, eager to see what energy Florida’s governor would bring. The 20-year-old supported Trump in 2020 but said he is interested in other candidates.
“That’s why we have the system we have,” says Spoonemore of Adel, Iowa. ‘I’m looking for a president. I’m looking for someone to lead us. That’s what I’m trying to find in DeSantis.”
“I’m not a big fan of the shadow,” he added, referring to Trump’s attacks on DeSantis.