Former President Donald Trump blasted Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) for her endorsement of Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) while speaking at a campaign rally in Iowa.
Trump was in Ankeny, Iowa, on Saturday when he addressed the governor’s endorsement of his opponent. The former president is still the front-runner in the race, running away with 54% of the likely Republican vote, while DeSantis nabbed 18%. Still, Trump decided to respond to Reynolds.
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“I mean, that was her choice to do this,” Trump said. “But I believe in loyalty. This state is not that difficult, and it is a great state with great people. But, she became the governor, and then she called me when she had a big problem: Running against a very wealthy man. He was way up in the polls, and he was going to win. I came, did a big rally and endorsement of her, fought like hell and she ended up winning, right?”
That was a reference to Reynolds’s first election in 2018 when Democratic candidate Fred Hubbell came within three percentage points of victory. In 2022, Reynolds won by a much more comfortable margin of almost 20 percentage points.
“She said she’s going to endorse (DeSantis) because he worked very hard,” Trump said. “Now, how do you endorse somebody that’s 40 or 50 points down?”
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DeSantis was also in Iowa on Saturday, finishing his tour of all 99 counties in the state. Trump also visited Cedar Rapids later Saturday.
Iowa is the first state to have a caucus or primary ahead of the 2024 presidential election. The caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15.
