Ron DeSantis boasted Friday about his lengthy list of endorsements and support in Utah, telling a group of backers in the deeply religious state that he was driven by faith in God more than political ideology.
As he works to reset a campaign confronting financial pressures and a static position in the Republican primary field, the Florida governor called the race a “state by state” contest and tried to endear himself to political leaders by likening Utah’s growing economy and their conservative governing strategies to his own.
Speaking in front of a group of 17 state lawmakers in the Western state’s capital, DeSantis defended his campaign’s strategy and support in early states including Iowa and New Hampshire while pledging to focus on Super Tuesday contests like Utah’s.
“My fighting faith is faith in God,” DeSantis said. “Politics has a role, but I don’t think it should be the number one divide in our country.”
His remarks in Utah came as Vice President Kamala Harris gave a speech across the country in Jacksonville, admonishing a DeSantis-backed Black history curriculum approved by the Florida Board of Education this week. He doubled down on earlier arguments that the new curriculum was needed to prevent liberal indoctrination and accused Harris of attempting “to demagogue” and politicize history.
He said he wasn’t involved in devising the Florida Board of Education’s standards but defended components instructing that enslaved people were taught skills that benefited them.
“They’re probably going to show is some of the folks that eventually parlayed being a blacksmith into doing things later in life. But the reality is: All of that is rooted in whatever is factual,” he said.
DeSantis’ Friday appearance marked the second time he has trekked to Utah recently, coming two months after he spoke at the state Republican Party convention.
“The more people see Governor DeSantis and hear his forward-thinking plan for our nation’s comeback, the more inspired they become to vote for him for president,” campaign spokesperson Andrew Romeo said in a statement.
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