Ron DeSantis is casting aspersions at the Republican Primary field, wondering why at least some of them are bothering to run for President.
During a Never Back Down town hall event in Coralville, Iowa, the Florida Governor took aim at his various opponents and their motivations for chasing the GOP nomination.
“I think part of the question, you know, when you look at people like, you know, why are they running? OK, and let’s just be honest, there are some people that are not running really to be President. Right? They’re running for — who knows why they’re running? But they’re running,” DeSantis said.
The Governor has had relatively little to say about his Primary opponents during his stump speeches, except for oblique criticisms of front-runner Donald Trump, but the remarks in Coralville suggest he is getting more pointed. It’s unclear who he believes is not a real candidate, however.
DeSantis is back in Iowa yet again to close out the week, in the wake of yet another campaign recalibration. He began the week by changing Campaign Managers, elevating the Governor’s Office Chief of Staff James Uthmeier after a prolonged slide in the polls and questions about the effectiveness of the now-reassigned Generra Peck.
This move came soon after the Governor shed dozens of staffers from the campaign apparatus, firing 38 staffers out of an original group of 92.
The Governor will debate many of the Republicans in the field in less than two weeks in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but he has shifted his campaign’s focus from a national operation to one decidedly more Iowa-heavy amid resource challenges. Meanwhile, polling points to trouble for DeSantis even in the Hawkeye State.
A fresh poll for DailyMail.com, conducted by JL Partners Polls, shows the Governor with just 17% support. That is a drop of nearly 10 points for DeSantis since April, when he had 26% support.
The Race to the White House polling average of the state shows Trump up 44% to 18% over DeSantis, meanwhile, with U.S. Sen. Tim Scott at 9%.
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