Desantis dismisses Haley, Pence as too weak
Governor says he can draw GOP undecided
Ron Desantis dismissed Republican rivals Nikki Haley and Mike Pence as candidates who won’t be able to win the persuadable pool of GOP presidential primary voters necessary to defeat Donald Trump, according to audio obtained by Mcclatchydc.
Speaking to about 30 members of the Virgin Islands GOP committee virtually on Monday, Desantis said his campaign estimates that 20 percent of the 2024 Republican electorate will definitely vote for the former president, with 35 percent having ruled Trump out completely. That leaves about 45 percent of Republican voters who are still considering their options.
“They’re not going to vote for people like Pence and Haley. I respect them, they’re just not,” Desantis told the Virgin Islands group, referring to voters in the early states of Iowa and New Hampshire. “They will vote for me because I have a record of being a very strong leader.”
Desantis spoke to the Virgin Islands gathering because the unincorporated territory in the Caribbean holds an early caucus on Feb. 8 for nine delegates. A candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote will sweep all of the island’s delegates.
Other than Trump, Haley and Pence were the only candidates the Florida governor cited during his remarks, which lasted about 23 minutes and included questions from the audience.
Neither Haley nor Pence’s campaigns responded to a request for a reaction to Desantis’ assessment.
“We’re going to win Iowa,” Desantis said. “We’re way ahead of any other candidate who’s won the caucuses in the past.”
Desantis is correct that other candidates such as Mike Huckabee in 2008 and Ted Cruz in 2016 made up considerable deficits to pull off a surprise victory there. But neither of them was running against a former president, and neither Huckabee nor Cruz went on to secure the GOP nomination.
An Iowa State University poll conducted by Civiqs this month showed Trump with a staggering 38-point lead over Desantis, with the former president receiving 55 percent support, compared with Desantis’ 17 percent. Haley was in third with 11 percent.
New Hampshire looks like an even tougher challenge for Desantis, with some recent polling showing him falling behind Haley.
Haley has seen a bump in her polling fortunes following two well-received debate performances, where she tangled with her rivals in sharp-tongued back-and-forths. In the September debate, Haley attacked Desantis for being against fracking and drilling. But while he made a promise to ban fracking as a candidate, it’s Florida voters who approved an amendment to ban offshore drilling.