Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) predicted that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has the ‘most to lose’ in the Iowa caucuses, which will start on Monday and could be a turning point for the 2024 Republican presidential primary race.
Donalds, who has endorsed former President Donald Trump, delivered his prediction ahead of a visit he is making to Iowa himself to see the campaign atmosphere “firsthand.” He noted that the momentum the DeSantis campaign has needed has, so far, been non-existent.
“He’s invested the most into Iowa,” Donalds said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures with Maria Bartiromo. “They’ve been speaking a lot about this massive ground campaign that they’ve done there, but from every report, it just hasn’t moved the needle.”
Donalds added that fellow 2024 candidate Nikki Haley, the former United Nations ambassador, is looking to the New Hampshire caucuses, which will start on Jan. 23, calling the Granite State Haley’s “Holy Grail.”
“They need to get within 10 points of Donald Trump in New Hampshire to give her an opportunity to even be able to go toe-to-toe with Donald Trump,” Donalds said. “I just don’t think it’s going to happen.”
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Polling data in Iowa has put Trump far ahead of his competitors with 48% support. Haley follows at 20%, then DeSantis at 16%, and billionaire Vivek Ramaswamy at 8%.
Iowa has been hit with extremely cold weather and blizzards just before the start of the caucuses, which could potentially hurt voter turnout.