In case he wins the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, Gov. Ron DeSantis has mentioned a prospective running mate. Kim Reynolds, governor of Iowa, is on DeSantis’ short list for vice president, he stated, after praising her during his candidate forum with Tucker Carlson on Friday.
“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 sitting next to DeSantis and nodding in agreement as he spoke.
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
DeSantis, who has routinely finished second in GOP primary polling for 2024, is under a tremendous amount of pressure as a result of former president Donald Trump’s ongoing ascent in the polls.
According to Reuters, “despite the former president’s commanding lead in polls and growing questions about DeSantis’ viability,” the DeSantis campaign is exerting significant effort to win the crucial state of Iowa in January.
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 been ahead of the pack among Republicans since he formally announced his candidacy in November, but recent polls indicate that he has increased his lead over DeSantis, to say nothing of the other GOP candidates, 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:
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.
The focus on Iowa appears to be a recognition by the campaign that DeSantis’ other paths to victory are shrinking, turning the Midwestern state into a do-or-die for him, according to more than a dozen interviews with the DeSantis campaign, Trump advisers, grassroots Republican operatives in Iowa and donors.
After a much-anticipated presidential launch on May 24, DeSantis is languishing a distant second in the Republican field and has yet to catch fire in any real way.
“A win in Iowa, a second in New Hampshire, we lose a couple of candidates before Nevada and South Carolina, and then we are in a bloody, two-person race,” said one of the two sources in comments to Reuters, making reference to follow-on primaries.
“He’s gotta have a win in the first three primaries, and Iowa is his best bet,” noted Chris Stirewalt, an election analyst with the American Enterprise Institute.
The post DeSantis Turns Heads – Reveals Who He Is Considering for 2024 Running Mate appeared first on The Republic Brief.
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