Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has made his first campaign-style trip to Iowa, drawing large crowds in Davenport and Des Moines. Governor Kim Reynolds introduced him at both events, as she’s appearing alongside both declared and likely 2024 GOP presidential candidates.
“Wow! This is incredible. What a great turn-out,” Reynolds said, as a Des Moines crowd of nearly a thousand cheered.
DeSantis and Reynolds discussed the agendas they’re at the state level, with similar proposals and laws in both states. Both emphasized their approach to the pandemic and their decisions to re-open schools in Iowa and Florida.
“They called Kim and I a lot of names for doing that,” DeSantis said.
Reynolds interjected, drawing laughter and then cheers from the crowd: “I think you were ‘DeathSantis.’ Is that right? ‘COVID Kim’ and ‘DeathSantis.’ Who was right, by the way?”
DeSantis touted his approach to quickly rebuilding a key bridge after the devastating hurricane that hit south Florida in September. “So I just want to make the offer to Joe Biden: if you want to start getting serious at the border, I’ll send my Florida builders to the border. I’ll build the wall myself, just let me at ’em,” DeSantis said, to cheers. “We’ll get it done.”
Former President Donald Trump is scheduled to speak in Davenport tonight. It will be Trump’s first event in Iowa since Trump announced he’d run again in 2024.