Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis discussed how the GOP could win in the future during a visit to Iowa on Saturday, taking a slight shot at former President Donald Trump in doing so.
DeSantis claimed during his visit that the Republican party must “reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years.”
“The time for excuses is over,” said DeSantis. “If we make 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board.”
The Florida governor warned that if Republicans “focus the election on the past,” it is likely that Democrats will continue to win, adding that it would be “very difficult to recover from that defeat.”
DeSantis made his speech in Iowa during the Feenstra Family Picnic hosted by Rep Randy Feenstra (R-IA). Trump was scheduled to host a traditional campaign rally in Des Moines on Saturday, but it was canceled due to weather.
During DeSantis’ remarks — which was essentially an early campaign speech — he told the conservative crowd that he would shut down the southern border “immediately” in light of the current crisis sparked by the end of Title 42.
He also pledged to continue his fight against teaching “transgender ideology” in schools and ending gender-reassignment surgery for children, touting his own record on the issues in his home state. He also highlighted his ongoing fight with Disney.
On Friday, the pro-DeSantis super PAC “Never Back Down” announced 37 endorsements from Republicans in the Iowa House and Senate on Friday, which include Senate President Amy Sinclair and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl.
On Thursday, Iowa Senate President Amy Sinclair and House Majority Leader Matt Windschitl, two high-profile Iowa Republicans, endorsed DeSantis for his potential 2024 run. Sinclair described DeSantis as “head and shoulders” above any Republican primary challengers, noting that “it’s an easy endorsement for me.”
DeSantis has yet to announce if he will run for president in 2024, though he is considered the biggest potential challenger to Trump for the GOP nomination.
A Morning Consult poll of 3,574 potential Republican primary voters showed Trump leading DeSantis in a hypothetical GOP primary race by 60 percent to 19, with no other Republican hitting double digits. The survey was conducted between May 5 and 7 and published on May 9. It came before a New York jury ruled that Trump sexually abused former Elle columnist E. Jean Carroll then defamed her while denying the allegations.
Trump’s 41-point lead of DeSantis is the largest Trump has enjoyed since business intelligence company Morning Consult began tracking the GOP primary race in December 2022.
The poll results is a continuing trend that has seen Trump’s poll numbers improve over DeSantis over the past few months. The former president stands at 52.1 percent as of May 11, with DeSantis behind in second at 22.5 percent—a 29.6-point lead, according to FiveThirtyEight’s national GOP primary polls average.
