CHARITON, Iowa — Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) insinuated Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) had sided with Vice President Kamala Harris after Harris criticized Florida's new black history teaching standards and Donalds agreed with some of her scrutiny.

"[At] the end of the day, you've got to choose: Are you going to side with Kamala Harris and liberal media outlets, or are you going to side with the state of Florida?" DeSantis told reporters Thursday in Chariton after the first stop of his bus tour. "I think it's very clear that these guys did a good job on those standards. It wasn't anything that was politically motivated."

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DeSantis contended the provision the Florida Board of Education approved for its school curricula black history teaching standards that have caused offense discussed skills enslaved people developed "in spite of slavery, not because of slavery."

"That makes it very clear about the injustices of slavery in vivid detail," he said.

DeSantis also acknowledged the intimate nature of his Chariton's meet and greet event, admitting to reporters afterward he had expected between 20 to 25 to be in attendance.

"We're excited to be here, back in Iowa, this bus tour," he said. "It's very important that you go to the rural counties, and so we're going to hit them all."

DeSantis's meet and greet in Chariton on Thursday afternoon came before a walk through the Wayne County Fair in Corydon and a town hall in Osceola, all stops as part of a bus tour organized by his super PAC Never Back Down amid his campaign's strategy reset and restructure. He is scheduled to appear in Albia and Oskaloosa before addressing the Iowa Republican Party's Lincoln Day Dinner in Des Moines on Friday.

The campaign overhaul coincides with DeSantis's polling decline from an average of 31% in January to 18% on Thursday, according to RealClearPolitics. Former President Donald Trump averages 52%. While DeSantis raised $20.1 million since he announced his bid in May through June 30, two-thirds of the money came from donors who cannot contribute again, and he has already spent $7.9 million of what is in his pot.

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"DeSantis has already made three trips to Iowa since launching his campaign and has participated in 13 different public events in the state," DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said. "Meanwhile, Trump’s engagement with Iowans can be summed up by headlines like this from the New York Post: 'Trump to skip second Iowa cattle call after spat with state governor.'"

"No one will outwork Ron DeSantis in the Hawkeye State, and he is just getting started," he added.