lorida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the Iowa Republican Party during a luncheon at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, during the Republican National Convention. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)
MILWAUKEE — Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis took his push to eventually become the party’s presidential nominee to the Iowa Republican Party on Wednesday during a speech on the terrace of an Italian-style villa overlooking Lake Michigan.
During his 10 minutes of remarks, DeSantis, who unsuccessfully challenged Donald Trump for the nomination this year, praised the policies that have been put forward by Iowa GOP lawmakers over the years and said he would be keeping an eye on the state for other ideas.
Iowa Republican delegates are especially important to any GOP politician who wants to win the Iowa caucuses, which remains the first-in-the-nation presidential contest for the party, although not for Democrats.
“You’ve had strong leadership in your state, starting with your governor,” DeSantis said, referring to Gov. Kim Reynolds. “But your legislature — they have done more during her tenure than most states do in decades.”
Iowa state lawmakers, he said, “should continue leading by example,” before adding that Florida Republicans are “not going to let you get ahead of us.”
“If you guys are doing good things that we haven’t done, I’m going to follow through and do it,” DeSantis said.
Speaking from the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the Republican National Convention, DeSantis said he hopes that Democrats don’t pull President Joe Biden as their presumptive nominee.
“I hope and pray that they don’t take that nomination away from him. We want him to be the Democratic nominee,” DeSantis said to cheers and applause. “And I’m going to be rooting for him. I know, the knives are out.”
Voters saw during the first presidential debate that Biden doesn’t have what it takes to be president, he said.
“If someone applied to be appointed to, like, a mosquito control board, and they had Biden’s faculty, and they came and sat in my office and said they wanted to be (on the) mosquito control board, I’d say, ‘No, you can’t do the job,’” DeSantis said. “So he clearly is not going to be able to do the job and so that’s good for us. That’s what we want.”
As DeSantis spoke, an individual speaking on background told States Newsroom that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, has pressed the Democratic National Committee to delay formally nominating Biden in a virtual roll call vote that is still expected to take place before the convention.
Schumer spoke with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York and the two agreed on the delay, according to the individual.
Iowa U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst said during the event that she didn’t believe Biden would stay Democrats presumptive presidential nominee for much longer and that GOP voters planning to watch the DNC Convention in August should get their popcorn ready.
“For well over a year now when I’m meeting with national political figures, when I’m meeting with Iowans, I have been saying… I do not think that President Biden is going to be the nominee,” Ernst said. “Now that’s kind of coming to fruition.”
Ernst referenced a survey from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research released earlier in the day that showed about two-thirds of Democrats don’t want to see Biden become their formal nominee for president.
“Oh my gosh, folks, he is in a nosedive,” Ernst said. “And the sad thing is they’ve dug in so deep at this point, how on Earth do they get rid of him?”
Ernst praised Trump’s decision to select Ohio U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance as his running mate, saying she believes “that he will appeal to a demographic of young voters out there that maybe we haven’t tapped as much into.”
“I do think we’re going to be able to peel little by little people out of the Democratic Party,” Ernst said. “Maybe they’re not going to become Republicans, but certainly we found a way that they can support our Trump-Vance ticket.”
Iowa U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson said that as the mom of “a 13-year-old, who could end up fighting for our country in a few years,” she is especially interested in policies that focus on deterrence and protecting the United States.
“We have some work to do, but I think we’re fired up to do it because we know what’s at stake,” she said.
Hinson also spoke about her primary goals in Congress, including reducing government spending, promoting rural issues and safety and security.
The Iowa delegation to the RNC also held an event Tuesday at the Pabst Mansion that featured U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas and Vivek Ramaswamy, another unsuccessful presidential candidate.
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