Ron DeSantis dodges when asked if Iowa trip ‘first indication’ of 2024 run
Ryan King
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis chuckled when asked whether his trip to Iowa is the “first indication” that he is harboring 2024 aspirations, saying that he was there to sell books.
“It’s the first indication that we have got a great book that people are buying,” DeSantis quipped on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “We had a lot of interest.”
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DeSantis traveled to the key early GOP primary state of Iowa Friday, where he met with Gov. Kim Reynolds and other local officials while promoting his new book and touting his record in Florida as a blueprint for the nation at large. His book, The Courage to Be Free: Florida’s Blueprint for America’s Survival, hit shelves last month. He later promoted his Iowa trip on Twitter.
“THANK YOU, IOWA! Together, Iowa and Florida are leading the way for a freer and safer nation… …And we’re just getting started,” he tweeted Sunday with a video recapping the trip.
https://twitter.com/RonDeSantisFL/status/1634966080278994947?s=20
Despite promoting the trip, DeSantis was coy about the presidential undertones of his visit, which featured stops in Davenport and later in Des Moines. He is also set to visit Nevada, New Hampshire, and possibly South Carolina over the coming weeks.
“Your Governor, Kim Reynolds, is a friend of mine, and I often tell people when they asked me in Florida, you know who else has done a good job, and I always say, you look what Iowa has done,” DeSantis added. “We got a great response across two different cities.”
Back in 2021, DeSantis downplayed presidential speculation, stressing he hasn’t taken steps to run. “Have you ever seen me go to Iowa or any of these places,” he asked.
https://twitter.com/jayobtv/status/1634191521153949700
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Last week, DeSantis gave his state of the state address to kick off the state legislature’s session, where he is seeking to push through an ambitious agenda. He previously indicated that after the state legislature wraps up in May, he can consider launching a 2024 bid.
DeSantis is currently polling in second place in a hypothetical GOP 2024 field behind Trump, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.