“We will never surrender to the woke mob,” he said at the Rhythm City Casino Resort in the eastern Iowa city of Davenport. “Our state is where the woke mob goes to die.”
With the Iowa caucuses less than a year away, Republicans in the state are taking a harder look at DeSantis, who is emerging as a leading rival to Donald Trump. The former president, who is mounting his third bid for the White House, will be in Davenport on Monday as early signs warn that some Republicans may be looking for someone else to lead the party into the future.
Analyst: Ron's gonna runChad Groening (AFN) American Family Radio talk-show host Jenna Ellis, a former attorney for President Donald Trump, views Ron DeSantis' visit to Iowa as a clear indication he intends to run for president in 2024.  "Anyone close to him has, of course, speculated for a while that that is the case because his approval ratings are huge," she notes. "He's the most popular governor in the country - and he should take his chance now and strike while the iron is hot." But Ellis points out that his supporters are going to have to wait. "He has said publicly that he's not going to consider that until after the Florida legislative session, which … is now through the end of May," she tells AFN. "So, people and political analysts – myself included – are speculating that he'll probably announce in early June." Former President Trump, who will be in Davenport on Monday, still leads DeSantis by double-digits in Republican primary polls. |
DeSantis appeared alongside Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and was heading to the capital city of Des Moines later in the day to meet with a small contingent of GOP lawmakers and to promote his newly released book, “The Courage to be Free.”
The visit is an early test of DeSantis' support in the state that will kick off the contest for the Republican nomination next year. Trump remains widely popular among Iowa Republicans, though positive views of the former president have slipped somewhat since he left the White House. Now, 80% say they have a favorable rating of him, down slightly from 91% in September 2021, according to a Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released on Friday. Eighteen percent have unfavorable views of Trump.
The poll’s movement suggests Iowa Republicans are not singularly committed to Trump for 2024 and are open to considering other candidates. Though slightly behind the well-known Trump, DeSantis gets a rosy review from Iowa Republicans — 74% favorable rating. Notably, DeSantis has high name recognition in a state over 1,000 miles away from his own; just 20% say they aren’t sure how to rate him.
Sandy Bodine said she was impressed with DeSantis as the ballroom emptied out after Friday's morning event.
“He’s very articulate, uses common sense it seems in governing,” the retired human resources worker for 3M Co. said.
Bodine would consider attending the 2024 caucuses and supporting DeSantis, though she is registered to neither major political party and has never caucuses before. Regardless, Trump is out of the running for Bodine, who is from nearby Clinton.
“I don’t like Trump,” she said. She "unfortunately” voted for Biden in 2020, she said. “He’s not a statesman and we need a statesman. I can see DeSantis as a statesman.”
But others in the crowd suggested they would stick with the former president. Retiree Al Greenfield, of Davenport, said he came out of curiosity but “I don’t particularly care for” the Florida governor. “He doesn’t have the experience,” said Greenfield, who's 70. “He doesn’t know the swamp."
Greenfield is ardently for Trump and plans to caucus for him next year.
Nearby stood Diana Otterman, of Bettendorf, who was still considering her options.
“Gov. DeSantis is a wonderful man. I’m for DeSantis, but I’m also for Trump. I haven’t decided yet,” the 70-year-old retiree said. “So we’ll see how God works it out and how the people vote.”
While DeSantis was making his presence known in Iowa, several prominent former Trump supporters called on him to take the next step and announce he's running.
“More than ever our country needs strong leadership, someone that gets things done & isn’t afraid to stand up for what’s right,” tweeted former Pennsylvania Rep. and Republican gubernatorial candidate Lou Barletta. “Come on, Ron, your country needs you!”
Barletta had accused Trump of disloyalty after the former president endorsed a rival in his gubernatorial primary.
