DeSantis Confronted With Trump Signs at Iowa Rally

Florida Governor and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis was greeted with large signs supporting former President Donald Trump at an event in Iowa on Sunday.

Virtually every 2024 presidential primary poll shows DeSantis as Republicans' second-favorite choice behind Trump who was federally indicted last week for the third time. Last week's indictment from the Department of Justice (DOJ) and special counsel Jack Smith came after months of speculation over whether the former president would be charged over the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which saw a mob of his supporters, allegedly motivated by his unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud, violently protest at the U.S. Capitol building in a failed effort to block President Joe Biden's Electoral College certification.

Trump was arraigned last Thursday in a Washington, D.C., court and pleaded not guilty to four charges that included conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights. Earlier this year, he was also indicted by the DOJ for mishandling classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence. Trump also pleaded not guilty to all of the charges against him in that case.

Meanwhile, DeSantis was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on Sunday attending Representative Ashley Hinson's annual barbecue event, according to CBS News reporter Aaron Navarro on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Florida governor was joined by other GOP presidential hopefuls including former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, businessman Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, entrepreneur Perry Johnson and political commentator Larry Elder, speaking to approximately 800 people in attendance—including the majority of Iowa's GOP congressional delegation.

Photos posted to X showed Trump signs being held high when DeSantis took over the pulpit to speak. Navarro wrote that the signs were visible at the beginning and end of DeSantis's speech.

"Amazing picture captured in Iowa last night," Trump supporter Alex Bruesewitz posted on X. "Iowa is Trump country!"

Chris Jackson, pollster and senior vice president at Ipsos, told Newsweek via phone on Monday that DeSantis came into the year in a relatively competitive position based on his resounding gubernatorial victory last November. He officially began his presidential campaign in May.

But the governor has "just been sort of losing ground ever since then," Jackson added, referring to a recent Reuters/Ipsos poll issued after Trump's most recent indictment showing that DeSantis hovers at about 13 percent nationally compared to Trump's 50 percent of support among prospective GOP voters.

In an interview with NBC News on Monday, DeSantis said that he feels confident his campaign will resonate with voters and lead to victory next year if the referendum is on Biden's "failures."

"If, on the other hand, the election is not about January 20, 2025, but January 6, 2021, or what document was left by the toilet at Mar-a-Lago...we are going to lose," the Florida governor said.

DeSantis added that Trump litigating his personal legal troubles as part of his campaign strategy is "not a pathway for success for the Republican Party."

"DeSantis is certainly correct that unless he and the other Republicans start attacking Trump directly, they're certainly not gonna win because Trump has a very dominant position," Jackson added. "I think as long as conservative media and all the Republican candidates sort of basically continue saying that Trump's right, why would we ever expect that dynamic to change."

The Iowa caucuses take place in January 2024 and could quickly reveal which candidates in the currently crowded field see a continued path forward, depending on funding and a national voter response to the various charges that Trump faces.

The former president received 44 percent of support among Iowa voters in a New York Times/Siena College poll conducted prior to Trump's third indictment. While that number is about a 10 percent decrease compared to his national polling average among GOP candidates, Trump still led DeSantis in that poll by 24 points. Meanwhile, DeSantis received 20 percent in that poll, three points higher than his national average.

In addition, the Florida governor was met with many empty seats during a recent visit at a livestock auction in Tama, Iowa.

"Tiny crowd for Ron DeSantis in a livestock auction venue," Trump political adviser Steven Cheung wrote Saturday on X. "Nobody is buying what that heifer is selling."

Newsweek reached out via email to the DeSantis campaign for comment.

Update 08/07/23, 2:05 p.m. ET: This story was updated with comment from Chris Jackson of Ipsos.