As they hit the trail in a key early state, the Florida governor and his allies are attacking Trump more directly.
Donald Trump will return to the first-in-the-nation caucus state for a rally Saturday with an indictment, another loss in court and a dominant position in the GOP presidential primary.
Ron DeSantis will be back with fresh legislative victories and a slew of Iowa endorsements as he and his allies attack Trump more directly. But he’s also trying to dispel doubts about his presidential prospects ahead of a 2024 announcement.
Both the Florida governor and the former president face questions about their viability as Saturday’s split-screen events commence. They’re converging in Iowa on the same day for the first time this year, hitting different parts of the state at a crucial moment in the campaign.
“Ron DeSantis has, I would say, nearly 100 percent name recognition … Now it’s time to make your sale,” said Iowa GOP chairman Jeff Kaufmann. Trump may be the front-runner, but in Iowa “we’ve been trained literally for half a century to listen to everyone,” he said.
DeSantis is making final preparations for a campaign expected to launch by June as he and his allies wrestle with how to take on Trump. Trump is positioning himself as the inevitable nominee but has to contend with renewed GOP questions about his electability after a New York jury found him liable for defamation and sexual abuse — allegations he’s denied.
Representatives for DeSantis did not respond to a request for comment, while Steven Cheung, a spokesman for Trump’s campaign, referenced Trump’s commanding leads in GOP primary polling and also general election surveys that show him ahead of President Biden. “That’s why he has support from U.S. senators, congressional members, elected officials and grass-roots activists,” Cheung said.
DeSantis and his backers are trying to recapture the momentum he had earlier in the year — pitching donors on the governor’s ability to beat Biden in swing states, working to counter the endorsements Trump has already lined up and taking sharper swings at the former president still beloved by much of the GOP. DeSantis’s ability to engage up-close with voters and go off-script will be under intense scrutiny as he mingles with top Iowa officials Saturday at a picnic, where he’s also expected to take questions from reporters.
The challenge of criticizing Trump while also courting his voters was clear this past week as a pro-DeSantis super PAC, Never Back Down, ramped up its attacks, drawing some rebukes from vocal DeSantis supporters on social media. Responding to Trump’s CNN town hall, the PAC and its staff took aim at Trump’s handling of issues important to the GOP base: guns, abortion and a southern border wall.
