Republican presidential candidates Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis are in the race for the nation's first nomination in the 2024 election, despite multiple polls showing them trailing former President Trump. He expressed confidence ahead of the Iowa caucuses.
Both candidates appeared on political television Sunday morning to give their final campaign speeches ahead of the Iowa Republican caucuses scheduled for Monday. Haley and DeSantis expressed confidence on “Fox News Sunday” that the efforts on the ground will pay off.
“I think we've always had a target on our backs because we've come up. Everyone else has been down, which is great,” Haley told anchor Shannon Bream. Ta.
“But the real polling is done on caucus day. And all we said is we want to come out of Iowa strong. We want to come out of New Hampshire strong. We want to be strong in South Carolina,” Haley added. “You know, this continues state by state and we're not going to stop until the last moment because we're trying to get every vote we can.”
DeSantis echoed similar sentiments.
“Well, we have a great road ahead of us. Monday will go well. We have an incredible organization. We'll have a lot of Iowans coming out to caucus.
“We have worked very hard over the past six months visiting all 99 counties to build organization and get people on the ground engaged,” he said. “And we're looking forward to it. We did it the right way.”
DeSantis, speaking on ABC's “This Week,” also welcomed being an “underdog.”
“We'll do well, but I'd rather people exclude us. I'd rather have people lower their expectations of us. I think we tend to perform better that way. There is,” he told co-anchor Jonathan Karl.
The candidates dismissed the concerns that were most concerning. Recent Among those likely to attend the Iowa Republican caucuses, former President Trump has a 48% approval rating, compared to Haley's 20% approval rating, according to an NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll. %, and Mr. DeSantis' approval rating was 16%.
DeSantis said Monday's weather may cause some people to stay home, but he's confident his campaign's door-knocking will convince Iowans to get out anyway.
“Historically, when you have the energy on the ground, as we do, when you visit all 99 counties and you have the organization, for it to do well in the caucus,” he said. “It's necessary, especially in a situation like this, because there are all the excuses in the world for someone to say, 'I might not go,'” he told Bream.
“Our members are highly motivated. They go. They have a mission. Shannon, we have people from all over the country in Iowa in the middle of a snowstorm, just making a call for us. , to knock on doors and tell Iowans why I want them to be a Republican,” he added.
Haley dismissed concerns that her campaign lacked energy. Haley ranked second among likely Republican caucus attendees, but her supporters were less enthusiastic than those of DeSantis and Trump.
Among Trump supporters, 49% said they were “very enthusiastic” about their candidate, compared to 23% of DeSantis supporters who said they were “very enthusiastic” about the candidate. Only 9% of Haley's supporters said they were “very enthusiastic.”
“I'm not worried. Look, I'm not a political pollster. I'm not going to worry about the numbers. What I'm trying to say is that the momentum and energy on the ground is strong. We are I feel it. I know this is going in the right direction,” Haley told Bream. “And the only numbers that matter to me are the numbers that are going up and the other numbers that are going down. It shows we're doing the right thing. Tomorrow, Iowans will be strong. I think it will decide.”
“We're excited that tomorrow is the day. Now that the time is up, we're going to continue criss-crossing the state. We've been doing that for days already. We're going to keep doing that and I think the strength will emerge tomorrow,” she said.
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