Hunter
11/06/23
The Des Moines Register is reporting Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds will formally endorse Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president at a rally in Des Moines today.
DeSantis is hoping to get a boost from the endorsement, as the last Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll showed his support dropping into a tie with former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, far behind front-runner Donald Trump.
Reynolds plans to speak at DeSantis’ pre-debate rally Monday as well as a Davenport meet-and-greet Tuesday morning. She will then fly to Miami to help him fundraise around Wednesday’s debate.
Reynolds’ decision to back DeSantis angered the former president, whose campaign released a statement saying “Kim Reynolds apparently has begun her retirement tour early as she clearly does not have any ambition for higher office.”
Trump himself went on social media to criticize the Iowa governor for her supposed disloyalty, claiming that he opened the governor’s position for her by appointing then-governor Terry Branstad to Ambassador to China, and endorsed her when she was losing her election bid. Trump also claimed that he was the sole reason Iowa remained first in the nation during the national election cycle.
Governor Reynolds initially said she preferred to welcome all candidates to the state and remain neutral in her support, but at a recent news conference said the 2024 election was “too important” to not consider endorsing a presidential candidate.