Ron DeSantis on Wednesday shrugged off attacks he’s receiving from Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, saying it just means they see him as a ‘threat.’
‘I think it just shows I’m the guy that I get attacked by the left, the Democrats, Biden, Harris, the media, Trump, so I must be somebody they consider to be a threat,’ he told NewsNation as he and his family barnstormed through Iowa.
The Florida governor is going all-in on the Hawkeye State, vowing to visit all of its 99 counties ahead of its January caucuses in the hopes a victory there can give his presidential campaign a massive boost.
But so far he’s not seen any traction in the polls. In fact he is down nine points in a poll of Republicans in Iowa conducted by GOP polling firm J.L. Partners for DailyMail.com.
Ron DeSantis, wife Casey, and their kids Madison, Mamie, and Mason are on the first day of a two-day bus trip across Iowa
And Trump leads by 27 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average of Iowa voters.
DeSantis says the support will come.
‘Win a majority of the delegates is what we’re going to do. I think we’re ahead of where we thought we would be thus far in terms of what we’ve been able to accomplish in Iowa,’ DeSantis told reporters traveling with him on his campaign bus through Eastern Iowa on Thursday.
He, Casey, and their kids Madison, Mamie, and Mason are on the first day of a two-day bus trip across the state that will end with a visit to the Iowa State Fair on Saturday – a mandatory stop for any presidential contender.
Trump will also be in the state on Saturday, holding his own separate event when DeSantis and other contenders for the GOP presidential nomination are speaking at the fair’s soapbox and attending a fireside chat with Iowa’s Republican Governor Kim Reynolds.
It had been unclear if Trump would attend the annual event, which runs August 10 through August 20.
The state fair is an important venue for political candidates as they court voters ahead of January’s caucuses.
The former president plans to bring with him a posse of Florida lawmakers who have endorsed his presidential bid over DeSantis. Also attacking DeSantis has been Vice President Harris, who has repeatedly slammed Florida’s new education policy that allows students to be taught that slavery gave black people ‘skills’ which could be ‘used for their personal benefit.’
In an interview with Newsmax on Wednesday, Trump called DeSantis a ‘failed candidate.’
‘He has got no personality and nothing going,’ Trump noted.
‘He’s dropped like a rock. I don’t even think he’s going to be No. 2 for long,’ he added.
‘I must be somebody they consider to be a threat,’ Ron DeSantis said told NewsNation of attacks on him by Donald Trump, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris
Ron DeSantis campaigned in Iowa City, Iowa, on Thursday
DeSantis argued that ‘When they’re attacking you, that means you’re over the target. We’re happy to field that and we’ll hold our own.
‘Because at the end of the day, I’m running to actually win the presidency and do all these great things. I don’t have any other motivation. I don’t want to get a cable news deal. I’m not trying to sell anything. I don’t want a cabinet post,’ he told NewsNation.
He also said Trump shouldn’t skip the traditional Iowa events and the sitdown with Reynolds.
‘I’m going to be there with Gov. Kim Reynolds. Donald Trump has attacked Gov. Kim Reynolds. She’s done a great job here,’ he said.
‘I don’t believe it’s good for the party to be attacking people like Kim Reynolds so we’re going to do the fair-side chat with her. Trump is not doing that chat with Kim Reynolds even though he has the chance to do so.’
The latest DailyMail.com/J.L. Partners survey shows that 43% of likely Republican caucus-goers in Iowa will support Donald Trump, compared to the just 17% who are backing Ron DeSantis
Reynolds has not endorsed in the presidential race but has repeatedly praised DeSantis – a move that has infuriated Trump.
On Wednesday she praised the Florida governor for visiting all the counties in the state – a move she called the ‘full Grassley.’ Longtime Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley is known for visit all 99 counties in his state every year.
‘He’s showing up in rural Iowa. He’s talking to voters. He’s listening to voters. He’s talking about his vision and that’s a really good thing to do,’ Reynolds told Fox News of DeSantis.
DeSantis has visited about 30 of the 99 counties with five months to go until the caucuses.
