Karl Rove now says Ron DeSantis needs a ‘very strong second’ in Iowa

Winning isn’t everything in the Iowa caucuses, says Karl Rove.

Nor is it the only thing when it comes to the Florida Governor who hopes to truncate his second term to lead the Free World instead of just the Free State of Florida.

For Gov. Ron DeSantis, a “very strong second place finish” coupled with whittling away at Donald Trump’s lead in the Hawkeye State polls would be enough to give him some momentum beyond Jan. 15.

The former George W. Bush advisor told Fox News host Neil Cavuto on Tuesday that DeSantis “needs to come roaring out of Iowa with either an outright win or a very strong second place finish” with “Donald Trump below where he is today in the Iowa poll at 43 (%).”

Rove had previously made news for calling Iowa “do or die” for DeSantis, particularly in light of key endorsements from faith leader Bob Vander Plaats and Gov. Kim Reynolds. He said on another Fox hit on Saturday that if DeSantis “comes in third in Iowa, it’s very problematic for him because it doesn’t get better for him in the next two sets of contests.”

Prior to that, Rove said that Nikki Haley had likely eclipsed DeSantis, saying that “Haley’s probably a few points ahead of him” as of Nov. 14.

Polling shows Trump with a strong plurality of support at least.

The Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted late last month showed DeSantis and Haley tied at 16%, with Trump at 43%.

That survey’s results were effectively corroborated by a Trafalgar Group survey conducted Nov. 3-5, in which Trump’s 44% support is more than the aggregate backing for DeSantis (18%), Haley (15%) and Tim Scott (9%), who has since exited the presidential race.

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