Republican candidate Ron DeSantis is asking his supporters to ignore \what he calls a “media narrative” that suggests Donald Trump will easily win the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
“You have a lot of media that think you don’t even matter…Why even bother going through any of this?…They can just determine the outcome based on who their pundits want to talk about or who they want to see be the nominee because they have their own agendas,” DeSantis said last night. “The one guy the media doesn’t want is Governor DeSantis. Isn’t that the best endorsement you could possibly have?”
Polls suggest DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley are battling for second place in the Iowa Caucuses. DeSantis has been predicting he’ll win the contest.
“All the stuff that they’ve talked about, all that goes up in smoke once you guys come out on the 15th and catapult us to victory,” DeSantis said Sunday in West Des Moines. “You have the power to do that.”
Over 200 people who back DeSantis gathered in a West Des Moines hotel ballroom for cocktails, hors d’oeuvres and an 11 minute speech from the candidate on New Year’s Eve. “Are you ready to work hard over these next two weeks so we win the Iowa Caucus?” DeSantis asked, to cheers. “…Donald Trump is running on his issues. Nikki Haley is running on her donors’ issues. I’m the only one running on your issues.”
DeSantis is the only GOP candidate who campaigned in Iowa yesterday. Vivek Ramaswamy will hold a rally in Bettendorf tomorrow to mark his second tour of Iowa’s 99 counties. Trump is scheduled to speak at rallies in Sioux Center and Mason City on Friday and in Newton and Clinton on Saturday.