In a move that comes as little surprise, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president.
According to the Des Moines Register, “The endorsement is an enormous win for DeSantis, who hopes to harness Reynold’s star power among Iowa Republicans as he looks to jumpstart his stagnant campaign and establish himself as a clear alternative to front-runner Donald Trump in the race’s critical final months.”
The Register also noted that former President Trump was critical of the move by Reynolds. The former president “lashed out,” said the paper, in response to hearing of the endorsement.
However, rather than lashing out, as the paper alleged, Trump merely cited his role in making the governorship of Iowa possible for Reynolds.
“I opened the position for Reynolds, so she became Governor of Iowa, by moving Terry Branstad to China as Ambassador,” Trump responded. “I then … worked hard to get her Elected, including an Endorsement and Big TRUMP rallies.”
According to the Register, this and other posts were the result of Trump writing “bitterly in a series of posts on his social media site, Truth Social.”
Regardless of the endorsement, DeSantis continues to fall behind Donald Trump in the polls, even in DeSantis’ state of Florida, where a new poll by the University of North Florida’s Public Opinion Research Lab found Trump enjoying a large lead with likely Republican primary voters.
“When given a list of possible candidates,” that poll found, “60% of respondents indicated a vote for Donald Trump, followed by 21% for Ron DeSantis in a distant second place.”
