Florida Governor Ron DeSantis met one-on-one with Iowa voters on Saturday during a stop in Sioux Center where he gave a lengthy speech about the road ahead for conservatives ahead of his expected presidential announcement.
The governor’s trip to the Hawkeye State comes after he locked up endorsements from 37 state-level Iowa lawmakers this week, including Senate President Amy Sinclair, Senate Majority Whip Waylon Brown, House Majority Leader Matt W. Windschitl, and House Speaker Pro Tempore John H. Wills.
Speaking in a packed venue in front of approximately 650 people, DeSantis touted his record as Florida’s governor and the recent string of major legislative victories that he had this spring.
The governor warned that the political Left is “playing for keeps” and that if Republicans do not win big in 2024, it could spell serious trouble for the country moving forward in light of how poorly Biden has performed and the radical agenda he has pursued.
“If the Democrats are able to sweep in 24, if they keep the White House, gain in the Senate, and take back the House, they will try to pack the U.S. Supreme Court,” DeSantis said. “They will try to eliminate the Electoral College, they will try to make Washington, D.C., a state, and they will eliminate voter ID in every jurisdiction in this country and make ballot harvesting mandatory.”
“We got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win. If we do that, if we make 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board,” he said. “If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again.”
“And I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat. And here’s the thing — I used to think our country was locked and loaded. Nothing can go wrong in terms of a free society. But freedom is fragile,” he continued. “And if you’ve lived through the last four or five years, you know that there were states in this country that forcibly shuttered churches, while allowing liquor stores and strip clubs to operate. We saw incursions on freedom that I would not have thought possible even six or seven years ago, but you know, our Founding Fathers understood the fragility of freedom very well.”
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Governor DeSantis: “If we make [the] 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board.”
We cannot “get distracted” and “focus the election on the past.” pic.twitter.com/BljseHuzwK
— DeSantis War Room 🐊 (@DeSantisWarRoom) May 13, 2023
After delivering the speech, DeSantis spoke one-on-one with supporters and took photos. The Associated Press falsely claimed that he “made little effort to connect with voters one-on-one” and was later forced to remove the claim from their report.
.@RonDeSantisFL swarmed by supporters and chatting with Iowans after the Feenstra Family Picnic pic.twitter.com/J9zWAOMmiD
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) May 13, 2023
Standing room only for @RonDeSantisFL in Iowa pic.twitter.com/krZcc6FthB
— Erin Perrine (@ErinMPerrine) May 13, 2023
DeSantis is working the crowd now after wrapping up his speech: pic.twitter.com/FnzPMSEzhU
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023
DeSantis worked his way through the room for a bit after the event, shaking hands & taking pictures with some of the Iowans in attendance: pic.twitter.com/MvhoDiGZBe
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023
DeSantis ended the event flipping burgers with Feenstra and Reynolds and chatting with some of the volunteers — he didn’t gaggle with press (though he later answered one question on his way back to his car about the border): pic.twitter.com/QjyFohIsbk
— Shelby Talcott (@ShelbyTalcott) May 13, 2023
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) May 13, 2023