Ankeny, Iowa – Temperatures were in the mid-teens, the wind was howling, and 8 inches of snow had already covered the roads, with more snow on the way Friday morning.
But despite the brutal winter weather, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held an early morning campaign event in suburban Des Moines with three days left until the Republican presidential nominating calendar, when the Iowa caucuses begin. I didn't stop.
“I'm really impressed that so many people came, considering the weather,” DeSantis told the crowd that came to hear him speak at a Northside Conservative Party rally, expressing support for him. Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds also addressed the audience. club.
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Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis takes a selfie with supporters at a campaign stop in Ankeny, Iowa, on January 12, 2024. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Minutes later, DeSantis told Fox News Digital in an interview that he “just wants people to stay safe” amid the severe weather conditions. But he vowed, “I'm going to be there,'' and as the clock ticks down to the caucus, “I'm going to spend every moment trying to get votes.''
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Mr. DeSantis' first campaign stop of the day was not affected by the weather, but included four other locations in northern, central and eastern Iowa planned by his affiliated super PAC, Never Back Down. The destinations visited have been postponed.
Due to poor road conditions across the Hawkeye State, the campaign of former U.N. ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley canceled an in-person event Friday and held a teletown hall instead.
On January 12, 2024, temperatures plummeted and snow piled up in Ankeny, Iowa. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
“I'm sorry I'm not in Fort Dodge, but it was important to me to talk to you,” Haley emphasized at the beginning of the event.
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Asked whether Haley should have campaigned regardless of the weather, DeSantis told Fox News: “That's her decision.”
“I believe in interacting with voters,” he said. “And we will do so whenever we have the opportunity to do so. And I think that will help us. We will end up converting people.”
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to a crowd at a Northside Conservative Club event on January 12, 2024 in Ankeny, Iowa. (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Mr. DeSantis headed to his campaign headquarters in suburban Des Moines in the afternoon to speak with volunteers who were making calls encouraging supporters to attend Monday's caucuses.
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DeSantis and Haley remain strong front-runners in caucuses and national polls, ranking second behind former President Donald Trump, who is seeking a third consecutive White House bid, according to the latest Iowa poll. is being strongly contested.
2024 Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley, former ambassador to the United Nations and former governor of South Carolina, speaks to a crowd at a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa, on January 11, 2024. (FOX News/Paul Steinhauser) (Fox News – Paul Steinhauser)
Haley, who has risen rapidly in the rankings in recent months, now stands alone in second place, vying with Trump in New Hampshire, where the first primary and second-overall race on the Republican nomination calendar will take place eight days after the Iowa vote. The gap is closing.
Asked if he was heading to New Hampshire regardless of how he performs in Iowa, DeSantis reiterated, “I'm going to New Hampshire. Yes.”
He then teased, “We'll be announcing some town halls.”
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Mr. DeSantis has appeared to be increasingly critical of Mr. Trump in recent weeks, giving stump speeches and interviews.
Mr. DeSantis pointed to Dr. Anthony Fauci to the audience and said, “The former president was here the other day at a town hall and said he had nothing to do with Mr. Fauci. I said I was the one involved in it.” Fauci. That's gaslighting. That is historical revisionism. He elevated Fauci. ”
On January 10, 2024, former president and 2024 Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump arrives at Fox News Town Hall in Des Moines, Iowa, to speak. (Kamil Krzazinski/AFP via Getty Images)
Fauci served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly 40 years and was the public face of the White House's efforts to fight the coronavirus during the Trump era. He then served as President Biden's chief medical advisor before he retired.
Mr. DeSantis, whose popularity has soared among conservatives across the country as a vocal opponent of the federal government's coronavirus restrictions, has long been a target of Mr. Fauci.
In an interview a few minutes later, DeSantis said that despite Trump's “recordings praising Florida's openness in 2020 and praising Florida's freedoms, President Trump has attempted to gaslight and… He's trying to blame me for that because he knows it's a weakness for him.” …He doesn't want to admit that he made a mistake in that regard. ”
In response, Trump campaign spokesperson Stephen Chan said in a statement to Fox News: “Ron DeSantis and his entire campaign are just one giant gaslight to the American people. That's why. “His political career is over and he continues to decline.” ”
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