A photo posted on social media showed more empty green bleachers than people at a Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis campaign event in Iowa.

Mr. DeSantis, a Republican presidential candidate, held a series of events in Iowa in recent days, including the meet-and-greet at an auction house in Tama, Iowa. The photo showed that just over three dozen people were in attendance at the presidential hopeful’s event.

The Washington Times reached out to Mr. DeSantis’ campaign for comment on the photo.

Former President Donald Trump shared the photo on his social media platform, referring to Mr. DeSantis as “DeSanctimonious.” The ex-president then shared another photo of a DeSantis campaign livestream event in Cedar Falls, Iowa, that had 10 active viewers.

“WOW,” Mr. Trump said.

Steven Cheung, Mr. Trump’s campaign spokesman, called Mr. DeSantis’ crowd “tiny.”

“Nobody is buying what that heifer is selling,” Mr. Cheung wrote on X.

Tim Miller, a writer for conservative news and opinion outlet The Bulwark, posted the photo on X, the social media platform formerly called Twitter. It has since garnered 1.3 million views.

Mr. Miller added context to the image, saying that Mr. DeSantis had done many events over the weekend in Iowa that were not as “sparse” as the crowd at the auction house. He added that “this is the reality when you reboot and do the grind it out, lots of small events let Ron Be Ron deal.”

The DeSantis campaign, once lauded as a top contender against Mr. Trump in the Republican primary, has struggled since launching in May.

Last month, Mr. DeSantis’ presidential campaign cut a third of its staff. The campaign has raised just over $20 million and has spent just over $8 million, according to financial disclosures.

Despite the small crowd in Tama, Mr. DeSantis kept busy going after Mr. Trump. He told a crowd in Iowa that Mr. Trump’s claims of election fraud could not be proven true.

The Florida governor then told NBC News that “of course” President Biden won the 2020 election.

Mr. Trump has dominated the Republican presidential race. A New York Times poll showed that Mr. Trump held a 37-point lead over Mr. DeSantis.

Mr. Trump and Mr. DeSantis remain leagues ahead of the other Republican presidential candidates. The rest of the GOP pack is stuck in single digits in the polls.

• Alex Miller can be reached at amiller@washigtontimes.com.