Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds officially endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to be the next President of the United States during a campaign event on Monday night.
Reynolds — who is the most influential Republican in Iowa — initially said that she was not planning on making an endorsement before the Iowa caucuses, but has changed her mind in recent months as the political operation backing DeSantis has poured enormous resources into winning the state.
“We need someone who gets results,” Reynolds posted on X. “Someone who knows when life begins. Someone who looks to the future. Someone who can WIN! That’s @RonDesantis. And I’m proud to stand here tonight and give him my full support and endorsement for President of the United States!”
This is the first time an Iowa governor has endorsed during a contested Republican presidential primary since 1996, the DeSantis Campaign said.
We need someone who gets results. Someone who knows when life begins.
Someone who looks to the future. Someone who can WIN!
That's @RonDesantis. And I’m proud to stand here tonight and give him my full support and endorsement for President of the United States! pic.twitter.com/Ojl5TPF7Yb
— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) November 7, 2023
Reynolds highlighted the number problems facing the country under President Joe Biden, including surging crime rates, terrorists coming across a wide open southern border which has seen 6 million illegal aliens enter the country, fentanyl killing Americans, inflation crushing families, and forces of evil advancing around the world because of Biden’s weak leadership.
“We can turn this country around, but if we don’t get this next election, right, if we don’t choose right, we are not going to get this country back,” she said. “So we have to do everything we can to make the right choice. Not only do we need to make sure that we elect someone who can win and beat Joe Biden, we need a president who has the skill and the resolve to reverse the madness that we see every single day.’
“We need someone who will fight for you and win for you,” she continued. “We need someone who won’t get distracted but will stay disciplined, who puts this country first and not himself. That leader is Ron DeSantis.”
It is an honor to be endorsed by Iowa's great governor, @KimReynoldsIA.
Kim has led her state with strength and principle — and delivered big results. She knows how to win the tough fights needed to get things done.
Together, we will win Iowa. pic.twitter.com/kWRHkCwoHU
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) November 7, 2023
She said that it was key for Americans to choose a president who was disciplined and put the country first in the face of adversity, and she said DeSantis’ record on how he handled the pandemic was one of the key reasons she decided to endorse him.
“I have a little bit of a unique perspective, as governor, I’ve seen it,” she said. “I was there with him during one of the most challenging and crazy times in our history. And while COVID might seem like a thing of the past, and that it’s behind us, and believe me, we hope it is, we should not and we cannot forget because it showed us how our leaders respond to a true crisis. And more importantly, it tells us how they’ll respond to the next one, and there will be a next one.”
“The pressure to shut down to ‘shelter in place’ to keep our kids out of school was on believable and it came from every corner, even from the White House,” she said referring to the Trump administration. “You know, most leaders, they buckled under that pressure. They listened to Fauci instead of the real science, but there was one man running for president who did not: Ron DeSantis.”
“When the Trump administration let Fauci lead their response, Ron had the courage to say, ‘not in Florida,'” she continued. “But here’s another thing that set Ron apart, he didn’t just fight to fight, he stood his ground because he dug into the issues. He actually hired and listened to some of the best people to make sure that he was acting on real science and not fear and that is how this man handles every issue. Ron is focused, he is principled, he is results driven. And in short, what I love most about Ron is he gets things done.”
She said that he was “one of the most effective leaders” that she has ever seen and gave examples, like how he got a bridge built in Florida after a hurricane in a matter of just a few days.
“Now listen I’m a governor that has dealt with disasters, that is incredible,” she said. “Not only can he be strategic and have a plan together, he knows how to execute it. And at a time when the world is spinning out of control. That is what we should be looking for in a president — someone who gets results, who devotes every single ounce of their energy to make our lives better.”
She said that Republicans needed to stop focusing on the past and look ahead to the future and nominate someone who has a track record of winning and delivering results.