Gov. Ron DeSantis mentioned a potential running companion should he win the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. After highlighting her during his candidate forum with Tucker Carlson on Friday, DeSantis stated that Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is on his limited list of potential vice presidential candidates.
“Governor, you have spent a lot of time with Governor Reynolds, you defended her after President Trump’s recent statements,” a reporter said to DeSantis at an event on Saturday after the Friday event, which was also held in Iowa. “Would you consider her as a potential vice presidential pick in this campaign?”
“Of course,” DeSantis said in response. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America, I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand and totally unnecessary.”
“We should be thanking good Republican officeholders,” he continued. “You know, we kind of joke about the Iowa-Florida [competition], sometimes they do things before us, sometimes we do. But honestly, I want them to do better than us because it’s healthy. When Republicans are doing well, I like that, I don’t get jealous of that, I want to see them do well.”
“And so they’ve done a great job and I think she’s been a model public servant and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her I think is way off base on that,” he concluded.
Sen. Joni Ernst, a Republican from Iowa, was standing next to DeSantis as he spoke and nodding in accord.
Gov. DeSantis tells @CBSNews he would “of course” consider choosing IA Gov. Kim Reynolds as his VP.
DeSantis and others defended Reynolds after Fmr. Pres. Trump called her out for not endorsing him.
DeSantis said any Republican “trying to denigrate her I think is way off base” pic.twitter.com/nCuMlJHVPt
— Musadiq Bidar (@Bidar411) July 15, 2023
Former President Donald Trump’s continued rise in the polls is exerting extreme pressure on DeSantis, who has consistently placed second in 2024 GOP primary polls.
As noted by Reuters, the DeSantis camp is putting a great deal of effort into winning the very important state of Iowa in January “despite the former president’s commanding lead in polls and growing questions about DeSantis’ viability.”
Ron DeSantis is my governor, and he's a great one.
I support Trump. Ron's turn is in 2028.
But I wish Trump would stop attacking our best governors, like Kim Reynolds!
Donald, you're the 47th President. Stop attacking great Republicans!https://t.co/GGpmNJS3BA
— Daniel F. Baranowski (@DFBHarvard) July 16, 2023
Trump has led the GOP field since he formally announced his candidacy in November, but according to recent polls, he has widened his lead over DeSantis, not to mention the rest of the GOP field, the majority of whom are polling in the single digits.
“Even as he trails Trump by close to 30 percentage points in national polls, DeSantis and his advisers are sticking to a long-haul, Iowa-first strategy. They hope that an upset win in the state would stall Trump’s momentum, according to two sources close to the campaign, who asked not to be identified so that they could discuss campaign strategy,” Reuters noted, adding:
More on this story via Conservative Brief:
They acknowledged they might never fully close the national polling gap before Iowa’s caucuses on Jan. 15, the first in a series of nominating contests to decide the Republican nominee for the November 2024 presidential election. CONTINUE READING…
