The governor turned most questions into opportunities to contrast his record as governor with Trump, slamming the former president’s economic policies, his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and his “flip-flopping” stance on abortion. Here’s the CNN fact check on some of his claims.
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These are the key takeaways from CNN's Iowa town hall with Ron DeSantis
From CNN's Eric Bradner and Steve Contorno
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday showed new urgency in taking on Donald Trump, attacking the former president at every turn at a CNN town hall in Iowa with the state’s caucuses less than five weeks away.
In the town hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper, DeSantis turned most questions into opportunities to contrast his record as governor with Trump.
Here are takeaways from the CNN town hall:
Focusing on the front-runner: DeSantis came out of the gate with a clear focus on closing his polling gap in the Hawkeye State with Trump.
He took an early shot at Trump, blaming the former president for the country’s inflation woes under current President Joe Biden and for his Republican rival’s actions at the start of the Covid pandemic.
It continued extensively from there, with DeSantis lobbing a total of eight attacks on the former president over the course of the hour. He dinged Trump for failing to finish the wall at the US-Mexico border as he had famously promised in 2016; for not debating him; for criticizing Florida’s new six-week abortion ban; and for not replacing Obamacare with a Republican alternative.
It was a striking string of attacks, though, not because it covered new ground. DeSantis has lobbed similar critiques at Trump on the campaign trail for weeks. But he has rarely, in a prime-time appearance, narrowed his attacks so directly at the former president, and at every turn.
DeSantis says Trump is “flip-flopping” on abortion: DeSantis has faced criticism – including within the GOP – for signing into law a measure that bans most abortions after about six weeks, with Trump implying it was “too harsh.”
He argued Tuesday night that Florida’s law includes exceptions for situations such as the one faced by Kate Cox, the Texas woman who sought court approval to have an abortion after learning her fetus has a fatal condition and doctors told her she could risk her future fertility if she doesn’t get the procedure. The Texas Supreme Court on Monday ruled against her, even though Cox had already left the state to seek an abortion elsewhere.
The six-week abortion ban that DeSantis signed in Florida includes limited exceptions for cases of rape, incest, pregnancies that jeopardize the life of the mother and fatal fetal defects.
He then pivoted to an attack on Trump, noting the former president had, while in office, strongly opposed abortion rights. He said Trump is now “flip-flopping on the right to life.”
On a two-state solution and Israel: DeSantis sharply disagreed with Biden, who earlier Tuesday had warned in a closed-door fundraiser that Israel was losing international support for its campaign against Hamas amid its heavy bombardment of Gaza following the October 7 terrorist attacks.
Biden said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “does not want a two-state solution,” referring to the idea of a Palestinian state existing alongside the state of Israel.
DeSantis, though, said Tuesday night that such a solution would be impossible because some groups “want to destroy Israel more than they want their own state.”
DeSantis dodges on Obamacare and Social Security: Though DeSantis criticized Trump for not implementing a replacement for the Affordable Care Act, his own plan remains to be determined.
DeSantis said he would roll out his own health care plan “deeper in the election season” – meaning likely after Republicans in the early-nominating states have already picked their nominee.
Similarly, DeSantis criticized Haley’s position on reforming Social Security, but he largely avoided specifics on how he would preserve its longevity – avoiding a topic that dogged him earlier in the campaign season.
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Asked about the need to reform Social Security, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized his rival former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley for wanting to raise the retirement age. He pointed to the nation’s demographic trends.
“Life expectancy is declining in this country. It’s tragic, but it’s true,” he said.
Facts First:It’s true that life expectancy suffered historic drops during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, but DeSantis’ claim needs context. Life expectancy started to rebound last year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In 2022, life expectancy at birth rose by 1.1 years to 77.5 years, according to provisional CDC data. But it’s still lower than it has been in roughly 20 years. The recent increase offset less than half of the 2.4 years of life lost in the first two years of the pandemic.
A decline in mortality from Covid-19 was a main reason why life expectancy rose last year. About 245,000 people died from Covid-19 in 2022, down from more than 462,000 deaths in 2021 and from about 385,000 deaths in 2020, according to CDC data.
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Fact Check: DeSantis on Social Security
From CNN’s Tami Luhby
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
When asked how he would protect Social Security for future generations, Ron DeSantis blamed Congress for the entitlement program’s financial troubles.
“Congress has taken money out of the Social Security fund for decades. They used to have surpluses there — Congress needed more money to do its spending so they take it and they spend it and then they’d write IOUs. That’s the main reason why Social Security is having fiscal challenges,” DeSantis said.
Facts First:DeSantis’ explanation here is inaccurate. The federal government has essentially borrowed from Social Security, but that is not the main reason why the program is facing insolvency in just over a decade. The primary problem is demographics – there are not enough workers to support the growing number of Social Security beneficiaries.
Even after all the borrowed funds have been paid back, the Social Security trust fund for retirees and survivors is projected to run dry in a decade, said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a government watchdog organization. At that time, beneficiaries could face a 23% cut in benefits.
Social Security is on shaky financial ground in large part because of the aging of the American population. Fewer workers are paying into the program and supporting the ballooning number of beneficiaries, who are also living longer.
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In pictures: CNN's Republican Town Hall with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
From CNN's Will Lanzoni
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took the stage on Tuesday night in a CNN town hall in Iowa ahead of the state’s caucuses next month.
DeSantis has been in a race with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be the main alternative to former President Donald Trump for the party’s nomination. He turned most questions into opportunities to contrast his record as governor with Trump.
See photos from the event:
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came out of the gate with a clear focus on closing his polling gap in the Hawkeye State with Trump.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Audience members listen as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers a question during the town hall.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
CNN's Jake Tapper moderated the town hall on Tuesday in Des Moines.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida first lady Casey DeSantis reacts as her husband answers a question.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis poses with an audience member following the town hall.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
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Fact Check: DeSantis on rescuing people from Israel
From CNN’s Haley Britzky
DeSantis gestures as he speaks during CNN's Republican Town Hall on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Ron DeSantis claimed he rescued people in Israel after the October 7 Hamas attack because the US State Department and embassy in Israel “wasn’t helping them.”
Facts first:DeSantis’ claim is both untrue and needs context.
It is inaccurate to say that the State Department did not help Americans in Israel after Hamas’ October 7 attack. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby announced on October 12 that the US government would begin arranging charter flights for Americans seeking to leave Israel on October 13. The first US government flight out of Israel landed in Athens on October 13.
Separately, DeSantis declared a state of emergency in Florida on October 12, allowing him to access a $500 million fund that does not require legislative approval, to evacuate people from Israel to Tampa. He told reporters in New Hampshire in October that he anticipated the first evacuation flight would land in Florida on October 15 — two days after the first US government flight came out of Israel.
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Biden campaign calls DeSantis performance at CNN town hall "signature rant and scare tactics"
From CNN's Samantha Waldenberg
The Biden campaign said Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis used “his signature rant and scare tactics” at Tuesday night’s CNN town hall in Iowa.
The statement also refers to former President Donald Trump as DeSantis’ “frienemy” and accuses the Florida governor of not caring about families in the middle class.
“Ron and his mentor turned frienemy, Donald J. Trump, have the same posture on helping middle class families: they just don’t care,” Newsom said.
The California governor also touted the Biden administration’s record and said that Americans have to “vote for democracy” in the 2024 election.
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Fact Check: DeSantis on grocery prices
From CNN’s Samantha Delouya
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Ron DeSantis claimed that grocery prices have gone up “way more than 10%,” saying they’ve gone up “50%, 75% and maybe 100%.”
Facts first: DeSantis’ claim about grocery price increases is false.
While the price of food has risen significantly over the last few years amid rising inflation, grocery prices have not gone up between 50% and 100%. According to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, food prices in the US increased 2.9% for the year ended in November. Overall, food prices have risen 26% since November 2019.
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DeSantis after Sununu endorses Haley: "If someone doesn't endorse me, I'm not gonna go trash them"
From CNN's Kit Maher
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday.
“Unlike some people running, if someone doesn’t endorse me, I’m not gonna go trash them,” DeSantis said, clearly referencing former President Donald Trump, who slammed Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds after she endorsed DeSantis.
DeSantis criticized Haley for “getting funded by liberal Democrats,” specifically mentioning the LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman and JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
Speaking directly to the audience, DeSantis said, “Guess what, guys, those folks do not want to see conservative change in this country.”
DeSantis also attacked Haley for recently calling for name verification on social media, a proposal that he previously called “dangerous and unconstitutional.”
“She’s going to demand that everyone produce their name on social media,” DeSantis said. “Conservatives have been singled out for expressing opinions on social media. People have been canceled. They’ve lost jobs over this. Why would she want to put our own people under there? So, I think there’s so many problems with her policy positions.”
At the time, Haley’s campaign said her proposal was intended to “crackdown on Chinese, Iranian, and Russian bots.”
DeSantis characterized Haley as “reflective of the old, failed Republican establishment of yesteryear.”
“We do not need to go back to that, but I will say this, Chris is great. He’s done a great job as governor. He’s a great campaigner. And I look forward to campaigning with him next fall in New Hampshire, as the Republican nominee,” he said.
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DeSantis criticizes Trump's handling of a Satanic Temple's religious classification
Former Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized the former President Donald Trump’s administration for granting the Satanic Temple religious classification under the Internal Revenue Service in 2019.
CNN’s town hall moderator Jake Tapper clarified that the 2019 move does not mean the government necessarily supports the group, to which DeSantis agreed.
The group is now receiving attention in Iowa after organizers put up a satanic holiday display in the state capitol and some Republicans are calling for the display to come down.
DeSantis claimed that the ruling under the Trump administration possibly gave the group “a legal leg to stand on,” while going on to say that he does not believe the organization is a religion “that the founding fathers were trying to create.”
“In Florida, I don’t think we probably would have had it up,” he said.
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Fact Check: DeSantis on Florida’s economy
From CNN’s Daniel Dale and Katie Lobosco
Ron DeSantis answers a question during the CNN Republican Town Hall on Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis claimed Florida’s economy is “ranked number one of all 50 states” and that the state’s “unemployment rate is 60% lower than states like California.”
Facts First: DeSantis’ first claim is accurate – at least based on one source: CNBC declared Florida the nation’s top economy in a July article. It’s worth noting, of course, that various media rankings use differing subjective methodologies.But he’s exaggerating how much lower Florida’s unemployment rate is when compared to California’s.
However, the state is struggling with inflation, with two metro areas, Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach and Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, high on the list of the metros with the worst inflation rates in the country over the last year. That’s in part because strong population growth has pushed up housing prices in these areas, but it is an economic problem nonetheless.
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Fact Check: DeSantis on oil drilling
From CNN’s Aaron Pellish and Ella Nilsen
DeSantis responds to a question during CNN's Republican Town Hall on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis pledged to “open up” domestic energy production “so that you pay less for gas.”
Facts First:As he did on Tuesday, DeSantis’ frequent campaign claim that the US can lower gas prices by producing more domestic oil is misleading.
Under President Joe Biden, US oil production has reached a new record this year, even surpassing output under former President Donald Trump. As CNN has reported, the US currently produces more oil than any other country on the planet, at about half a million barrels per day more than the prior annual record set in 2019.
Prices at the pump in the US are highly dependent on the global oil market and the US cannot be truly energy independent when it comes to gas prices, energy experts have told CNN. Oil is a global commodity; the global price of oil determines US gas prices and it’s simply impossible to separate that price from shifting global dynamics like Russia’s war on Ukraine or OPEC’s recent decisions to cut oil production.
There’s also the fact that the US consumes a different kind of oil than it produces, Bob McNally, president of Rapidan Energy Group, and a former George W. Bush White House official, told CNN last year. McNally compared the light crude the US produces to champagne, and the heavy crude it imports to coffee. US oil refineries are specifically built to separate out the “heavy and gunky” crude we consume, McNally said.
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Pork on a stick was DeSantis' favorite food item at the Iowa State Fair
GOP candidate Ron DeSantis said he enjoyed pork on a stick the most at the Iowa State Fair.
Brooks Reynolds, the co-founder of the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival and a Republican voter who is currently undecided, asked the Florida governor about his favorite food item at the fair.
DeSantis made sure to clarify that he ate the pork on a stick out of the public eye.
“They said, if you get a picture of it, you know, it’s a really bad thing,” DeSantis said, getting a few laughs from the crowd.
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DeSantis slams Trump's claim that his 2016 debate against Clinton was braver than a military battle
From CNN's Kit Maher
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Former President Donald Trump recently suggesting that his 2016 debate performance against Hillary Clinton after the release of the Access Hollywood tape was braver than a military battle is offensive and wrong, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday.
Trump has opted out of presidential primary debates this election cycle, citing his overwhelming lead in the polls, which DeSantis said indicated a sense of entitlement.
“He doesn’t think he owes it to Iowans. He doesn’t think he owes it to Granite Staters to show up and debate and answer questions,” DeSantis said.
As he often does on the trail, DeSantis argued that Trump is a different brand of candidate today than he was in 2015 and 2016.
“Back then, he was colorful, but it was really America first about the policies. Now, a lot of it’s about him,” DeSantis said.
More context: Delivering a speech at the New York Young Republican Club Gala Saturday, Trump said: “A general, who’s a fantastic general, said to me, ‘Sir, I’ve been on the battlefield, men have been gunned down on my left and on my right. I’ve stood on hills where soldiers were killed, but I believe the bravest thing I’ve ever seen was the night you went unto that stage with Hillary Clinton after what happened.”
The next day, DeSantis posted on X: “Trump denigrates military service by claiming it is ‘braver’ that he debated Hillary Clinton than what soldiers endure on the battlefield. Debating isn’t ‘brave;’ it’s the bare minimum any candidate should do. Hiding from debates, on the other hand, is an example of cowardice.”
DeSantis, who served in the US Navy as a Judge Advocate General’s Corps officer, said his military experience would color the way he would approach foreign policy and potentially sending troops into harm’s way as president.
While he believes in “peace through strength,” DeSantis said if troops are sent, they need to have a “clear objective” of what mission they’re trying to fulfill.
“We can’t have these situations where people are toiling for years and years in these foreign countries with no concrete example of victory. So, I hope to never do it, but if we ever need to, we are going to win,” DeSantis said.
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DeSantis claims he's the "only person running who can beat Trump one-on-one"
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said it is up to the voters to create an actual competitor against former President Donald Trump in the upcoming presidential election.
When asked by Iowa voter Jessica Dunker of the possibility of uniting with other GOP candidates to support one viable Trump rival, DeSantis said “that’s what the Iowa caucus is.”
He claimed the other candidates in the race “cannot get enough support from core Republicans and traditional conservatives to be able to vote.”
“You can’t just win with a slice of the party. You got to have broad support.” DeSantis said. “We’ll be able to do that going forward.”
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DeSantis comes after Trump's "flip-flopping" stance on abortion
DeSantis responds to a question during CNN's Republican Town Hall on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis came after former President Donald Trump’s stance on abortion, claiming that his fellow presidential candidate is “flip-flopping on the right to life.”
He claimed in a 2020 speech, Trump “said that all life is a gift from God” and emphasized the importance of abortion laws. But now, DeSantis said, Trump has “attacked states that have enacted protections — like heartbeat bills — as being a terrible, terrible thing.”
DeSantis also highlighted the pro-life protections he enacted during his time as governor.
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"A promise made is a promise kept": DeSantis pledges to keep social security benefits for seniors
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pledged to keep social security benefits in place for current seniors.
“You have been taxed to pay into it your whole life,” DeSantis said at a CNN town hall in Iowa. He was answering a question from Jeanne Lubavs, who is a retired engineer and an undecided Republican voter.
The Florida governor said he understands the importance of making sure seniors have benefits, especially with prices and cost of living going up.
CNN’s Jake Tapper pressed DeSantis about benefits for younger people and pointed out criticism from his opponent, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, about the system needing some reform in the long term.
“You got to have bipartisan agreement,” DeSantis said.
“I’m willing to work with both sides and we got to come up with a solution for the long-term. But, in the short-term, just know, seniors, this is a priority for me to make sure that you have your benefits,” he said, without spelling out exactly what that long-term reform might be.
Some context: There’s no debating that Social Security and Medicare, the government’s health insurance program for older and disabled Americans, face long-term financial issues.
The combined Social Security trust fund reserves are on pace to be depleted in 2034, according to the most recent estimates from the program’s trustees. Without those reserves, Social Security will be able to pay only about 80% of benefits from the income that continues to flow into the program.
Medicare, meanwhile, will have only enough money in its hospital insurance trust fund to pay all scheduled benefits until 2031, after which it will be able to cover only 89% of costs, according to the most recent Medicare trustees report.
Nearly 67 million Americans have received monthly Social Security benefits this year, and more than 66 million people are enrolled in Medicare. Polling shows little support for major changes to the programs themselves to help shore up their finances.
A March CNN/SSRS poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents, for instance, found that 59% said it was “essential” that the GOP nominee for president “pledges to maintain Social Security and Medicare as they are.”
And just 7% of Republicans surveyed in October in an AP/NORC poll said that the government was spending too much on Social Security.
CNN’s Fredreka Schouten contributed reporting to this post.
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DeSantis dismisses polls showing Trump with commanding lead: "Iowa voters will choose"
From CNN's Kit Maher
DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis dismissed poll numbers showing former President Donald Trump’s commanding lead, describing it as a “narrative,” and called on Iowans to choose the candidates who best represent their values.
The latest Des Moines Register/NBC/Mediacom poll, shows DeSantis trailing Trump by 32 points in Iowa. DeSantis suggested that this is a media narrative.
Telling voters that they are the ones who have agency in this election, DeSantis said: “Do not let the media choose your candidate. Do not let a pundit choose your candidate. Choose the candidate that’s best going to represent your values and is going to give this country the leadership that it deserves.”
DeSantis said that he’s confident that he’s the candidate to provide that kind of leadership.
“I’m grateful that we already have a huge number of Iowans who’ve already signed up to support us and we ask all the Iowans that are undecided, come join our team,” he added.
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DeSantis criticizes Republicans for using US-Mexico border crisis to get donations during elections
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis answers a question during the town hall on Tuesday.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis criticized fellow Republicans for using the crisis at the US-Mexico border as an issue to get donations during election cycles.
Responding to a question from Davis Witt, an Iowa Republican torn between DeSantis and Trump, about how he would handle the crisis at the border differently than former President Donald Trump, DeSantis said: “I am going to build the border wall.”
DeSantis went on to say he believes Trump got distracted during his term as president on the issue and emphasized that he thinks that building a wall would be a strong deterrence for people illegally crossing into the US from Mexico.
Some background: Amid ongoing the debate in Washington over border security, authorities on the ground are grappling with the latest migrant surge, reminiscent of the high number of crossings earlier this year that raised alarm bells across the Biden administration.
Last Tuesday, border authorities encountered more than 10,000 migrants along the US southern border, according to a Homeland Security official. The Del Rio and Tucson sectors were the busiest. As of Wednesday morning, there were around 23,000 migrants in Border Patrol custody, the official told CNN.
The surge is the latest example of the Biden administration’s policy changes running into realities on the ground. Despite a series of policy changes and levying consequences, such as restarting repatriation flights to Venezuela, migrants continue to cross the US-Mexico border amid unprecedented migration across the Western hemisphere.
CNN’s Priscilla Alvarez contributed reporting to this post.
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DeSantis says Israel's war in Gaza is the more critical conflict to fund with US tax dollars
DeSantis answers a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall on Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that if he had to choose, the war between Israel and Hamas is the more critical conflict for the American people to support with tax dollars over the war in Ukraine.
Asked by an Iowa voter Tuesday night to choose which conflict was more important for funding, DeSantis said Israel is “our strongest ally in the Middle East.”
He made the argument that Ukraine has “all of Europe” to support it, while claiming that Israel lacks that kind of support.
DeSantis called on European countries to “rise up to the occasion” and assist Ukraine’s military in its war against Russia.
He went on to later claim that “the world is coming after Israel” due to antisemitism and said the country “gets targeted and singled out more than any other country in the world.”
More on this issue: DeSantis’s comments come after President Joe Biden voiced criticism of Israel’s hardline government Tuesday and said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needed to alter his approach.
“I think he has to change, and with this government, this government in Israel is making it very difficult for him to move,” Biden said, calling Netanyahu’s government the “most conservative government in Israel’s history.”
He warned support for the country’s military campaign is waning amid heavy bombardment of Gaza and added that the Israeli government “doesn’t want a two-state solution.”
Speaking ahead of Biden’s comments at the fundraiser, Netanyahu admitted Tuesday that he and the US president disagree on what should happen to Gaza after the war. In a statement, the Israeli leader said: “Yes, there is disagreement about ‘the day after Hamas’ and I hope that we will reach agreement here as well.”
The pair of remarks amounted to some of the most candid to date when it comes to the persistent differences between Israel and the United States, its top international ally.
Biden administration officials have been pressing their Israeli counterparts in recent weeks to begin planning for what happens in Gaza once the military campaign ends, including insisting on keeping the door open for an eventual Palestinian state.
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DeSantis says Donald Trump mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic
Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis participates in a CNN Republican Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Jake Tapper at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
CNN
Tuesday’s town hall opened with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis taking a swipe at the former president, saying Donald Trump mishandled the Covid-19 pandemic when it came to the economy.
Tim Bianco, an undecided Republican Iowa voter who owns a manufacturing business, asked DeSantis why his employees should trust him over Trump.
DeSantis responded by touting the economy in his state and naming inflation as something he would fix as president.
He said as president he would “get the inflation down” and “open up energy” to drop gas prices, though did not give any specific details on how he would accomplish those things.
“I think your hard-working employees are going to have a friend in the White House,” he told Bianco.
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CNN's town hall with Ron DeSantis is underway. Here's what to watch for
From CNN's Eric Bradner and Steve Contorno
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis prepares to answer a question during a CNN Republican Town Hall at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday, December 12.
CNN
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is to fielding questions from Iowa tonight during a CNN town hall — less than five weeks before the state’s January 15 caucuses kick off the 2024 Republican presidential nominating contest.
The town hall is streaming live on CNN Max and for pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN connected TV and mobile apps. It will also be available on demand beginning Wednesday to pay TV subscribers via CNN.com, CNN apps and Cable Operator Platforms.
Here are four things to watch:
DeSantis vs. Haley: Though Trump has overshadowed the entire 2024 GOP primary contest, the race-within-the-race is increasingly down to DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley — and the Florida governor and his super PACs have ramped up their attacks on the former South Carolina governor in recent days.
Clock ticking in Iowa: The state is particularly crucial for DeSantis, who doesn’t have the advantages Haley enjoys with moderates in New Hampshire and home-state voters in South Carolina once the primary campaign shifts past the Hawkeye State’s January 15 caucuses. Tuesday night’s town hall could provide a window into whether DeSantis is willing — and able — to broaden his appeal and prevent time from running out on his 2024 hopes.
Taking on Trump: DeSantis has long avoided aggressively criticizing Trump, but in recent days, he has taken several swings at the former president to help him chip into Trump’s lead in Iowa. In the last GOP debate, DeSantis didn’t directly answer a question about whether Trump is mentally fit for the presidency, but he said the nation needs someone younger than Trump, 77, or President Joe Biden, 81.
Shifting media strategy: At the onset of the race, DeSantis limited interviews to a carefully curated and exceptionally friendly ecosystem of conservative outlets. But as he struggled to break out of the crowded GOP field early on, the voices inside his orbit pushing for him to broaden his media exposure grew louder. His icy relationship with mainstream outlets thawed. DeSantis eventually sat down for his first interview with CNN, appeared on the Sunday political shows for the first time since becoming governor and granted major news organizations considerable access to his campaign. Tuesday’s town hall is the culmination of this deliberate shift.
Trump's scrapped testimony and busy week of campaigning preview balancing act he faces
From CNN's Alayna Treene, Kristen Holmes and Kate Sullivan
A last-minute announcement scrapping plans to testify at his New York civil fraud trial. A “Commit to Caucus” event in Iowa on Wednesday. A rally in New Hampshire next weekend.
Donald Trump’s schedule just weeks before the Iowa caucuses offers a preview of the balancing act the former president and his team will face over the next several months, when a series of other trials centered on Trump are slated to begin during the height of the primary election season.
On the eve of his expected testimony, the former president said Sunday that he is no longer planning to take the stand in the case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is suing him for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. He’d sat in on the trial last week.
Trump’s decision to back out of his planned testimony presents fresh questions over how the front-runner for the GOP presidential nomination will handle future legal obligations next year – when a series of his other trials, some of which may require him to take the stand, are scheduled to begin during the height of the campaign.
Trump was slated to be called Monday as the final witness for the defense and testify against allegations that he fraudulently inflated the value of his properties after he was questioned by prosecutors last month. The former president, who continues to argue the charges against him have no merit and are a political hit job, had planned to treat the court appearance like another stop on the campaign trail, sources familiar with his preparations told CNN.
Trump attorney Alina Habba told reporters last week that his legal team had advised him against taking the stand but said he was adamant about testifying because he feels so strongly about the case. He “is not afraid. … President Trump does not cower,” Habba said.
However on Sunday, Trump posted to Truth Social that he “WILL NOT BE TESTIFYING ON MONDAY,” arguing that he “ALREADY TESTIFIED TO EVERYTHING & HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY,” before going on to attack the case as a witch hunt.
On Wednesday, two days after Trump was set to appear in court, he will hold a campaign event in Iowa before heading to New Hampshire for a political rally Saturday. The former president, who holds a commanding polling lead over the rest of the GOP field in Iowa, is expected to maintain an aggressive campaign schedule there leading up to the caucuses in January. But his appearances are unlikely to outpace those of his opponents, many of whom have crisscrossed the Hawkeye State more relentlessly ahead of the first-in-the-nation contest.
With New Hampshire governor backing Haley, DeSantis camp says Iowa will determine "true Trump alternative"
From CNN's Steve Contorno and Kit Maher
The campaign for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday downplayed the expected news of New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s endorsement of the rival candidacy of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley.
Sununu on Tuesday formally endorsed Haley during her town hall in Manchester, saying “we’re all in on Nikki Haley, undoubtedly.”
In a statement to CNN ahead of Sununu’s endorsement, spokesperson Andrew Romeo said, “What happens in New Hampshire will be significantly impacted by the outcome in Iowa, where the true Trump alternative will emerge.”
DeSantis has aggressively shifted resources to Iowa in hopes he can engineer a victory in the January 15 caucuses there that will reset the race before the New Hampshire primary on January 23. DeSantis was endorsed by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in November.
“And when Ron DeSantis comes out in that position he will be joined by over 60 New Hampshire state legislators who stand ready to take the fight to the establishment and their candidates of yesteryear to return power to grassroots conservatives,” Romeo continued.
DeSantis’ campaign manager James Uthmeier, on CNN acknowledged that the Sununu endorsement is “meaningful.” However, he said what’s really going to move the needle in New Hampshire is the result of the Iowa caucuses.
“On January 15th, when people go out and cast their vote and everybody sees Ron DeSantis as the true Trump alternative, when they see him blow projections and expectations out of the water, that momentum will go into New Hampshire,” Uthmeier told CNN’s Dana Bash on Inside Politics.
“That momentum will certainly be more important than any one endorsement, but let’s not forget, Ron DeSantis has endorsements from over 60 legislators,” he added.
“The same polls that predicted Donald Trump would win the Iowa caucus back in 2016, they were not accurate. The same polls that predicted a sweeping red wave for Republicans across the country last year, they were inaccurate. No public poll predicted that Ron DeSantis would soar above expectations with a 20-point win,” he said.
Uthmeier insisted the DeSantis campaign’s organization in Iowa will defy expectations.
“Team DeSantis has an organization in the caucus state of that is second to none. It is the most robust infrastructure, any presidential primary team in Iowa to date,” Uthmeier said.
DeSantis had sought Sununu’s backing and had campaigned with the New Hampshire governor in the Granite State as recently as November 21. It’s the latest setback for DeSantis in New Hampshire, where his support has fallen from its spring highs, and it creates new headwinds for the Florida governor’s hopes of a turnaround there.
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CNN held town halls with other GOP candidates earlier this year. Here's who has participated so far
From CNN staff
Former President Donald Trump participates in a CNN Republican Presidential Town Hall moderated by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire, on Wednesday, May 10.
Will Lanzoni/CNN
CNN held town halls with other Republican presidential candidates earlier this year as part of a series of political events to cover the 2024 race.
During the town hall, Trump took questions from GOP primary voters and once again refused to concede that he lost the 2020 election and repeated false claims about it being stolen.
In June, CNN hosted town halls with former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Haley participated in a town hall on June 4 in Iowa, where she faced questions from host Jake Tapper and GOP caucus voters on foreign policy, the economy and domestic issues.
Pence – who has since dropped out of the race —participated in a town hall on June 7, also in Iowa, where he faced questions from GOP Iowa caucus voters. When asked about investigations into Trump, Pence said “no one is above the law” but that indicting a former president would be divisive and send a terrible message to the world.
DeSantis looks to use fight over transgender rights to boost 2024 campaign ahead of Iowa caucuses
From CNN's Steve Contorno
A week before announcing his campaign for president in May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law a slate of bills that altered the lives of transgender people in his state.
Now, with just weeks before Republicans begin to weigh in on the presidential nominating fight, DeSantis has wielded those new laws to draw sharp contrasts with his GOP rivals and to appeal to social conservatives who could be key to sparking a strong finish for him in the Iowa caucuses.
The intense effort to push these issues to the forefront was laid bare minutes into last Wednesday’s Republican presidential debate when DeSantis, in response to a question about his slipping poll numbers, accused former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley of opposing one of those laws: blocking transgender children from certain medical procedures that he likened to mutilation. Haley denied the charge.
The next morning, DeSantis pivoted again to the topic when asked whether he would send troops to the Middle East to rescue US hostages. He then continued to press his cause on the road for the next 48 hours.
“You have one conservative candidate running in this race and that is me at this point. That’s just the reality,” DeSantis said later last Thursday in Iowa. “When we can’t even as Republicans agree that it’s wrong to chop off the private parts of a 14-year-old kid, what is going on in this party?”
Taking on the role of cultural warrior is not new for DeSantis, who rose within his party by seizing and then championing contentious issues the GOP base was eager to raise. It’s not one, however, that has convinced most conservative voters to turn away from former President Donald Trump. In some states, particularly New Hampshire, DeSantis’ hard turn right has endangered his chances of becoming the top alternative to Trump as moderates and Independents increasingly look toward other candidates, especially Haley.
But in Iowa, where the evangelical influence over the Republican caucuses is historically strong, the lane for a socially conservative candidate has become considerably less crowded in the past few months. A handful of candidates who also competed for that support have left the race, including former Vice President Mike Pence and South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott.
At Iowa forum, GOP candidates spoke about faith and freedom — but avoided criticizing each other
From CNN's Veronica Stracqualursi
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, right, speaks during Rep. Randy Feenstra's "Faith and Family with the Feenstras" event on Saturday in Sioux Center, Iowa.
Charlie Neibergall/AP
Four Republican presidential candidates stuck to speaking about their faith and their families during a Saturday forum in western Iowa – a stark contrast from Wednesday’s contentious fourth GOP debate, when they spent much of the evening attacking one another.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Texas pastor Ryan Binkley attended the “Faith and Family with the Feenstras” event hosted by GOP Rep. Randy Feenstra of Iowa, with less than six weeks to make an impression on caucusgoers before the state’s first-in-the-nation nominating contest.
At Dordt University in Sioux Center, DeSantis appeared with his wife, Casey DeSantis, and argued that Democrats want to establish a religion of “secular leftism.”
“And they want that to be the orthodoxy so that if you as a Christian or another faith, if your faith conflicts with their agenda, they expect you to bend the knee. That is not religious liberty as our Founding Fathers understood it,” he said.
Nikki Haley reflected on the 2015 mass shooting that killed nine congregants in a historically Black church in Charleston during her tenure as governor of South Carolina, emphasizing she believes in “faith and family and country” because “I’ve lived it.”
GOP rival Vivek Ramaswamy, who has been fielding questions about his Hindu religion from voters during his campaign events, talked in-depth about his faith before the evangelical crowd and acknowledged that his religion “ends up being an elephant in the room at times at events” because “that’s not been a norm for US presidents in the past.”
When asked whether his campaign would work with the “Christian vision to advance the Kingdom of God in America,” Ramaswamy said, “I don’t think that’s the job of the US president.”
“I’m not running for pastor, I wouldn’t be qualified to be pastor, but I am running to be the commander in chief and to be president,” he added.
Texas pastor Ryan Binkley – who has barely registered in the polls in Iowa and did not qualify for the debate earlier this week – introduced himself to the audience, argued that “America needs an economic revival and a spiritual revival,” and vowed to reform health care.
Analysis: Why Trump is even stronger than he looks against his Republican rivals
From CNN's Harry Enten
Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters at the Fort Dodge Senior High School on November 18, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
Polls continue to show Donald Trump with a massive lead over his competition for the Republican presidential nomination. Yet, many of his opponents continue to hold their fire against the former president. They may be doing so in hopes of eliminating all their non-Trump competition before taking on Trump himself.
The problem with this plan is that it won’t work. Trump’s rivals have to do something different to knock him off his perch. Unlike in 2016, when there were signs that he could be defeated in a one-on-one contest (which never actually happened), Trump holds major advantages this time around.
He’s up by more than 40 points nationally when polled against his closest rivals (Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley). More than that, he is pulling in greater than 60% of the Republican vote. Even if his rivals were able to consolidate into one super candidate, Trump would still win majority support.
This is very different from where we were at this point in the 2016 cycle. Trump was getting somewhere around 25% to 30% of the GOP vote nationally.
Additionally, it’s not at all clear that any of his 2024 rivals can unite the Republican primary voters not supporting Trump. Consider a Marquette University Law School poll from last month.
Trump corralled 57% of the vote in this national survey when matched up against all of his GOP competitors. When facing just DeSantis, Trump’s support jumped to 65%. When matched up with just Haley, he got to 70% of the vote.
We didn’t see such numbers in 2016, when Trump was on his way to locking up the GOP nomination. As late as March 2016, an ABC News/Washington Post poll found Trump trailing both Marco Rubio (51% to 45%) and Ted Cruz (54% to 41%) in hypothetical one-on-one polling.
That is, there was a legitimate argument back then for Trump’s rivals hoping to become the last candidate standing against him. Today, it doesn’t make much sense.
From CNN's Jeff Zeleny, Alison Main and Ebony Davis
Nikki Haley speaks after being endorsed by New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu at a campaign town hall in Manchester, New Hampshire, on December 12.
Brian Snyder/Reuters
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu on Tuesday formally endorsed Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley during her town hall in Manchester, saying “we’re all in on Nikki Haley, undoubtedly.”
“You can feel the energy. You can feel it,” Sununu continued.
The backing from the popular governor is a major momentum boost for Haley in the Granite State with just less than two months until the primary election on January 23.
Some background: Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis are locked in a bitter battle to emerge as the leading Republican alternative to Trump. The rivals now have dueling endorsements from the respective governors of Iowa and New Hampshire, which kick off the Republican nominating contest in January.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed DeSantis in November and has campaigned extensively with him. She was reelected in 2022 and is among one of the most popular Republican officials in the state, but it remains an open question whether her support will move the needle for the Florida governor.
Long before their respective endorsements, Reynolds and Sununu were at odds with Trump. The former president is scheduled to campaign Wednesday in Iowa and on Saturday in New Hampshire, both states in which he is the dominating frontrunner.
Sununu made clear in recent weeks he had narrowed his choice for backing an anti-Trump challenger was between Haley, DeSantis and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
Haley has often been vocal about wanting the support from the New Hampshire governor, adding his endorsement will largely impact her campaign.
These are the key presidential primary dates heading into 2024
From CNN staff
The Republican presidential candidates are all vying to take on President Joe Biden in November 2024. But first, they’re competing in the GOP primaries and caucuses, which begin in January, to emerge as the party’s nominee.
The first event of the Republican primary calendar, the Iowa caucuses, will provide an initial moment of truth for former President Donald Trump’s bid and could help Republicans tired of Trump decide which of his challengers to rally behind.
The new Democratic presidential primary calendar upends decades of tradition in which Iowa and New Hampshire were the first two states to hold nominating contests and moves up South Carolina, Nevada, Georgia and Michigan. President Joe Biden has argued the new nominating order would better reflect the diversity of the nation and the Democratic Party.
Here’s a look at key dates in the primary race coming up in the first few months of the year:
January:
January 15: Iowa Republican presidential caucuses
January 23: New Hampshire presidential primary election
February:
February 3: South Carolina Democratic presidential primary election
February 6: Nevada Democratic presidential primary election
February 8: Nevada Republican presidential caucuses and Virgin Island Republican presidential caucuses
February 24: South Carolina Republican presidential primary election
February 27: Michigan Democratic presidential primary election
March:
March 2: Idaho Republican caucuses and Missouri Republican caucuses
March 3: Washington, DC, Republican presidential primary
March 4: North Dakota Republican presidential caucuses
March 5: Super Tuesday —states and territories holding elections includeAlabama, Alaska Republican presidential primary, American Samoa Democratic presidential caucuses, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa Democratic presidential preference, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah Democratic presidential primary and Republican presidential caucuses, Vermont and Virginia
March 12: States holding elections include Georgia, Hawaii Republican presidential caucuses, Mississippi, and Washington
March 19: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kansas and Ohio presidential primary elections
Trump expands lead in Iowa caucus race, new polls shows
From CNN's Jennifer Agiesta
Former President Donald Trump speaks to a crowd of supporters at the Fort Dodge Senior High School on November 18, in Fort Dodge, Iowa.
Jim Vondruska/Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump has expanded his lead over the GOP field in the latest Iowa Poll of likely GOP caucusgoers in the kickoff state of next year’s presidential election.
Overall, 51% of likely caucusgoers say Trump would be their first choice, 19% name Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 16% former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, with the rest of the field at 5% or less. In October, the same poll found Trump at 43% with DeSantis and Haley each at 16%.
Trump, Haley and DeSantis are the only candidates in the field that a majority of likely caucusgoers say they are at least considering for the nomination (76% are considering or supporting Trump, 67% DeSantis and 52% Haley). Just 38% say they are at least considering businessman Vivek Ramaswamy and 17% former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
About half (49%) of likely caucusgoers, though, say their minds are already made up about whom to support, with Trump’s backers far more likely to say they are committed to their candidate than are those supporting other candidates (70% of Trump supporters say their minds are made up, compared with 34% of Haley backers and 30% of DeSantis backers).
Trump’s supporters are also significantly more enthusiastic about their candidate than are DeSantis’s or Haley’s supporters. More than eight in 10 say they are extremely or very enthusiastic about the former president (86%) while 61% of DeSantis’s supporters feel that way and 59% of Haley’s supporters do.
Nearly three-quarters, 73%, say Trump can win an election against President Joe Biden, regardless of his legal challenges, up from 65% who felt that way in October. Just 24% in the current poll say Trump’s legal challenges will make it nearly impossible for him to win.
Asked to rate the ideological lean of top candidates, 71% say Trump is about right, with just 18% saying he’s too conservative and 7% that he’s too moderate, with 60% calling DeSantis about right and 55% saying the same about Haley. More say Haley is too moderate (23%) than too conservative (12%), while the balance narrowly tilts the other way on DeSantis (20% too conservative, 15% too moderate).
More about the poll: The DMR/NBC/Mediacom poll was conducted by telephone Dec. 2-7 among a random sample of 502 likely Republican caucusgoers. Results for the full sample of likely caucusgoers has an error margin of plus or minus 4.4 percentage points.
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Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed DeSantis in November
From CNN's Steve Contorno, Kit Maher and Jeff Zeleny
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in November for president ahead of the key caucuses in her state, sending a clear message to Republicans looking for an alternative to former President Donald Trump that the time to act has arrived.
As people waved “Reynolds for DeSantis” signs, the Iowa governor said the country needs “someone who calls out our moral decline for what it is, who looks to the future and not the past, someone who, most importantly, can win.”
In putting her thumb on the scale for DeSantis, Reynolds is lining up behind a like-minded executive who has also successfully enacted a strikingly conservative agenda. Her endorsement will test the power of her political brand in her home state. Across the country, Republican leaders have experienced limited success convincing conservative voters to move on from Trump.
Reynolds wasted little time going after Trump, dinging his response to Covid-19 and saying DeSantis “won’t get distracted” and “will stay disciplined,” a clear rebuke of the former president, who has publicly assailed her for months.
DeSantis hugged Reynolds as he took the stage and the two stood together as the crowd cheered. DeSantis then delivered familiar remarks to anyone who has heard him in all corners of Iowa.
“I don’t care what they say about me. I will take the arrows. I will take all the criticism. I’ll take the smears,” DeSantis said. “I’ll take the hits, because, ultimately, it’s not about me. It’s about you, and I will fight for you.”
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Ron DeSantis and wife Casey play cleanup over Iowa caucus remarks
From CNN's Kit Maher
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis listens as his wife Casey speaks during a campaign event in Panora, Iowa, on August 11.
Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Casey and Ron DeSantis are seeking to clarify comments the Florida first lady made on Friday that appeared to encourage out-of-state voters to participate in the Iowa caucuses.
“We’re asking all of these moms and grandmoms to come from wherever it might be, North Carolina, South Carolina and to descend upon the state of Iowa to be a part of the caucus, because you do not have to be a resident of Iowa to be able to participate in the caucus. So, moms and grandmas are going to be able to come and be a part and let their voice be heard in support of Ron DeSantis,” Casey said, in a side-by-side interview on Fox News with her husband ahead of a “Mamas for DeSantis” event in West Des Moines.
After the Fox News appearance, Casey DeSantis clarified on X that by participating in the Iowa caucuses, she didn’t mean voting.
“While voting in the Iowa caucus is limited to registered voters in Iowa, there is a way for others to participate. I’m calling on mamas and grandmamas from all over the country to come volunteer in support of Ron DeSantis in the Iowa caucus,” she posted with a link for people to register to participate.
Speaking to reporters after the event, the Florida governor denied that his wife was encouraging people to illegally vote in the January 15 caucus, as some Trump-aligned users were suggesting on X.
Reached for comment, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign said the he had already answered the question in detail.
“We really appreciate Casey and everything she’s doing, as well as Gov. (Kim) Reynolds. They are launching nationwide recruitment for people who are about to come from the Mamas’ movement to volunteer for the caucus,” Ron DeSantis told reporters before taking questions.
“Obviously, you can’t vote in the caucus, but you can help with it. They even let people go and speak on behalf of candidates, and they have all these precincts, so you may have people who really can speak strongly about our leadership that are going to come.”
The Trump campaign seized on the comment, accusing the DeSantis and his wife of embracing voter fraud.
“We demand the Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds clarify what the rules are and that the instructions given by the DeSantises are flagrantly wrong that could further disenfranchise caucus-goers. Even the Republican Party of Iowa had to immediately issue a response to the DeSantises wrong information,” the campaign said in a statement on Saturday. “The Trump campaign strongly condemns their dirty and illegal tactics and implores all Trump supporters to be aware of the DeSantises’ openly stated plot to rig the Caucus through fraud.”
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DeSantis has said he will replace Obamacare with a "better plan"
From CNN's Kit Maher
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said, if elected president, he would “replace and supersede” the Affordable Care Act with “a better plan,” saying that “Obamacare has not worked.”
DeSantis said details of the plan will likely be worked out in the spring and that his campaign would “roll out a big proposal.”
The comments came as former President Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the GOP presidential race, has renewed his call to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, a move that has troubled some Republicans, given his failure to do so in his first term.
At a stop in Sioux City, Iowa, on December 2, DeSantis dismissed Trump’s renewed focus on repealing Obamacare. “Didn’t he promise to do that back in 2016? I don’t think he got that one done,” the Florida governor said.
Some Trump advisers who spoke with CNN conceded that calling for the termination of a law that provides health care coverage to millions of Americans and is largely viewed favorably by the public is a political loser going into 2024. Republicans have tried and failed for years to implement substantial changes to Obamacare, and the party has largely abandoned efforts to campaign on the issue.
The resurrection of the health care battle has given Democrats fresh political ammo, and the Biden campaign quickly seized on Trump’s threats. The campaign held a press call with former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and North Carolina Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, whose state recently became the 40th to expand Medicaid, to respond to Trump’s comments. The campaign also released an ad focused on health care and prescription drug costs, attempting to draw a sharp contrast with Trump.
DeSantis’ comments to “Meet the Press” come after he said on December 1 that he would “transcend Obamacare.”
“That was a big failure, obviously, under the Trump administration. That was a core promise that didn’t happen. … We’re gonna have a comprehensive plan to lower costs, and yes, Obamacare hasn’t done it, so we’ll transcend Obamacare,” DeSantis told Fox Carolina.
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The Iowa caucuses are only a few weeks away. Here's why they are a focal point for GOP campaigns
From CNN's Eric Bradner
In this 2016 photo, ballots are counted following the Republican party caucus in precinct 317 at Valley Church in West Des Moines, Iowa.
It’s a tradition that has turned the Hawkeye State into the focal point of many GOP campaigns and positioned its voters to have a crucial role in determining the party’s nominee.
Iowa’s role as the first state in the presidential nominating process dates to the 1970s. In 1972, it was the first state to hold its Democratic caucus — and it moved to the front of the Republican line four years later in 1976.
The lead-up to the Iowa caucuses has historically been seen as a test of campaigns’ organizational strength. And its winner typically leaves Iowa with a jolt of momentum in the national polls as the race then shifts to New Hampshire for the Granite State’s primary (which will be held on January 23).
Iowa is one of the few remaining states to eschew primaries in favor of choosing parties’ nominees in caucuses — election-night gatherings at which voters discuss the candidates and cast their ballots in person.
Caucuses, unlike primaries, are run by political parties, and are held in venues such as fire stations, churches and schools.
In Democratic caucuses in Iowa, caucus goers separate into groups to indicate their candidate preferences and the support of at least 15% of attendees is necessary for the candidate to be considered viable and be awarded delegates. However, in Republican caucuses, attendees cast paper ballots, which are then counted in person. Delegates are awarded based on the results.
As far as the national momentum-building role of the Iowa caucuses, those election night results are conclusive. But the official process continues: Delegates selected on election night in the months ahead attend county, district and state conventions, where they are narrowed and delegates for the national convention are chosen.
The Iowa caucuses are important, but not necessarily decisive. In 2016, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz finished first, narrowly ahead of then-businessman Donald Trump and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. Trump would seize the GOP’s nomination in the weeks and months that followed.
Key things to know about GOP presidential candidate Ron DeSantis
From CNN staff
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks in Iowa City on October 20.
Jordan Gale/The New York Times/Redux
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose penchant for cultural clashes led him to declare his state as the place where “woke goes to die,” launched a bid for president in May 2023.
DeSantis has said he is running to “reverse the decline” in America and to offer a new generation of leadership for the country.
A hard-charging leader who has stretched the boundaries of executive power in his state, DeSantis rose to national prominence during the Covid-19 pandemic. He made Florida one of the first states to reopen schools, and took measures to prohibit lockdowns, mask mandates and vaccine requirements.
Ahead of announcing his bid to run for president, DeSantis, 45, spent months laying the groundwork to make that case.
He traveled the country extensively, styling himself as a leader in the right’s culture wars and presenting a new vision for a Republican Party that uses elected powers to punish political opponents and force conservative orthodoxy on institutions and businesses.
The Florida governor is now battling former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to be the main alternative to former President Donald Trump, who is the current GOP frontrunner.
Working with his state’s GOP-controlled legislature, DeSantis has stacked up multiple policy victories — including banning abortion after six weeks, eliminating permits to carry a concealed gun in public, enacting a universal school voucher law and targeting access to transgender health care — all of which serve his platform.
DeSantis represented a northeast Florida’s district in the US House from 2013 to 2018 and was a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus. He was a vociferous defender of Trump as a congressman, but the two have since traded sharp attacks on each other on the campaign trail.
CNN’s Steve Contorno, Kit Maher, Gregory Krieg and David Wright contributed reporting to this post.
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DeSantis finished a 99-county tour in Iowa where he started: Far behind Trump in a critical state
From CNN's Steve Contorno and Veronica Stracqualursi
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a rally celebrating his 99th Iowa County held at the Thunderdome on Saturday, December 2, in Newton, Iowa.
Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post/Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis completed his tour of Iowa’s 99 counties on December 2, a milestone he pursued with dogmatic zeal as his White House aspirations grew closely tied to his performance in the Republican Party’s first presidential nominating contest.
DeSantis marked the occasion with a rally in Jasper County, just east of Des Moines at a venue called the Thunderdome — a fitting host for a candidate in a fight for political survival.
With the January 15 Iowa caucuses just around the corner, DeSantis remains well behind the party frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, and is running out of time to catch a spark.
Meanwhile, the surging campaign of former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has continued to turn its attention to the Hawkeye State, further complicating DeSantis’ path to a victory in a place he is all-in on winning.
Now, DeSantis’ presidential bid hinges on how Iowa Republicans, who have long prized retail campaigning, respond to the early and persistent connections he has made while logging thousands of miles through the state’s cornfields and wind farms.
On the road to appearing in every Iowa county — a feat known as “the full Grassley,” named after the state’s well-traveled senior senator, Chuck Grassley — DeSantis has regularly appeared in parts of the state Trump is unlikely to visit.
He has shaken countless hands and answered questions from potential supporters in dozens of small shops, bars, manufacturing plants and similar venues, from the Missouri River to the west and Mississippi River to the east as well as the borders of Minnesota to the north and Missouri to the south.
It’s an undertaking DeSantis first embarked on this summer to stabilize a campaign that was struggling to break out and was dealing with cost overruns caused in part by an overly ambitious national push out of the gate.
Doubling down on Iowa with stops in all corners of the state became a guiding star for the revamped effort behind DeSantis, which also involved moving most of his staff from Tallahassee, Florida, to Des Moines, replacing his campaign manager and adding David Polyansky, a seasoned Iowa operative who previously worked for Never Back Down, a super PAC supporting the Florida governor.
