An Iowa state senator has flipped his endorsement from former President Donald Trump to Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the wake of two recent blunders by the former president.
State Sen. Jeff Reichman, a Republican, announced the move on Thursday.
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“Iowa Republicans must be united if we are going to take our country back and reverse Joe Biden’s failures,” he said in a statement. “Governor DeSantis has achieved the same type of commonsense policy victories in Florida as we have in Iowa under Governor Kim Reynolds, and he will deliver historic success for the conservative movement as president as well.”
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in a statement, “There is no room for weak-kneed and lily-livered people on Team Trump. Ron DeSanctimonious’ failing campaign is so desperate that he’s willing to offer buyouts in the form of fundraisers for endorsements. The truth is that those who have been promised financial support are now regretting their deal with the devil because none of them have been able to schedule fundraisers with DeSantis.”
The mention of Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) in his endorsement is notable, as Trump recently earned criticism for calling her out on social media, unhappy with her choice to remain neutral during the campaign season leading up to the Iowa caucuses.
Republican leaders in the state expressed disappointment in the apparent rift between Reynolds and Trump. The governor is well-liked among Republicans in the state, and while Trump maintains a strong lead in the primary race nationally, some strategists don't think Iowans will take kindly to the attack on Reynolds.
News broke earlier this week that Trump would additionally be absent from a prominent event for evangelicals in Iowa, the Family Leadership Summit, which is taking place on Friday. The Trump campaign attributed this to a scheduling conflict — he will be speaking Saturday evening at a Turning Point Action event in Florida.
The campaign offered to send Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH) in Trump's place, but because the summit does not accept surrogates, it declined.
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GOP leaders and strategists in the state were initially unsure of whether news of Trump's feud with Reynolds would make its way to everyday Republican voters. But some indicated that if it did, voters would be displeased.
It appears that Trump's actions in Iowa will likely remain in the news throughout the state, but it remains to be seen if this will shake his lead in the polls.