Trump takes aim at DeSantis amid Iowa gathering of rivals: ‘I wouldn’t take a chance on that one’

Former President Donald Trump on Friday took aim at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) at a gathering of Iowa Republicans, seeking to cement his grip on the state with less than six months until the state caucuses.

Trump and nearly every other Republican running for the party’s 2024 nomination spoke at the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner on Friday night in Des Moines. While DeSantis and other top rivals did not attack the former president — who in a recent Fox Business Network poll was leading in the state by 30 points — Trump wasted little time attacking the Florida governor, who is viewed as his top competition.

“I’m here to deliver a simple message. Iowa has never had a better friend in the White House than Donald J. Trump,” Trump said.

Republican presidential candidate former president Donald Trump gestures before speaking at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

The former president repeatedly referred to DeSantis as “Ron DeSanctus,” shorthand for a longer nickname of “Ron DeSanctimonious.”  

“Unlike the establishment globalists in this race, I have been an unwavering warrior for ethanol, and I will remain your ethanol champion,” Trump said. “Ron DeSancuts has aggressively fought against ethanol, which I think would be devastating for Iowa. He fights against it all the time.”

Trump cited polls that showed him leading President Biden in key swing states, while the same polls found DeSantis trailing Biden. 

“I wouldn’t take a chance on that one,” Trump said. 

Other polls, which Trump did not reference, have found DeSantis leading Biden in certain swing states.

The former president also took credit for maintaining Iowa’s position as the first caucus on the GOP primary calendar and he touted the tariffs he placed on China during his first term in office, though China retaliated by putting tariffs on U.S. agricultural imports that adversely affected Iowa farmers.

He also took credit for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, while adding that he supports exceptions to abortion bans for cases of rape, incest and life of the mother.

“The 2024 election is our last shot to save America, and there’s only one candidate — and you know who that candidate is — who’s going to get the job done,” Trump said.

Each candidate received 10 minutes to speak at Friday night’s dinner, or their microphone would be cut off. Most candidates repeated a condensed version of their stump speeches, highlighting broad policy views or their backstory.

Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 2023 Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, Friday, July 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

DeSantis, whose campaign has gone through staffing cuts and criticisms about its spending and lagging poll numbers in recent weeks, took only implicit jabs at Trump in his speech to Iowa Republicans.

“We’re not getting a mulligan on 2024,” DeSantis said, a nod to his argument that Trump is not the most electable option. “We either win this election and make good on all the promises that we’re making, or the Democrats are going to throw this country into a hole that’s going to take us a generation to climb out of.”

DeSantis added that he planned to visit all 99 counties in the state because candidates had to “earn” a top finish in the Iowa caucuses. The comment was a veiled swipe at Trump, who has publicly attacked Iowa’s Republican governor and skipped a recent gathering of Iowa evangelicals attended by most 2024 candidates.

DeSantis and other candidates will likely need to make inroads in Iowa in order to blunt Trump’s march toward a third GOP presidential nomination. 

But a recent Fox Business poll showed 46 percent of likely GOP caucusgoers support Trump, followed by DeSantis at 16 percent and Sen. Tim Scott at 11 percent. All other candidates polled in the single digits.

In a clear sign of Trump’s enduring popularity in the party, even as he faces mounting legal issues, former Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas) was booed by the audience as he told the crowd that Trump “is running for president to stay out of prison.”

Democratic National Committee spokesperson Ammar Moussa in a statement said Friday night’s gathering showcased that GOP candidates “all share the same agenda and are desperate to find some kind of new extreme plank to get an edge.”