Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has rejected suggestions that his bid for the White House is floundering while noting his recent campaign events in Iowa were attended by dozens of people.
In an interview with Fox News on Sunday, DeSantis blamed the media for pushing a "narrative" that his 2024 campaign is struggling or that he does not have the charisma or charm to appeal to voters across the country.
DeSantis said that the suggestion that he cannot "do retail campaigning," i.e. taking part more intimate interactions with potential voters, was part of "superficialities and trivialities" pushed by the press, while noting that he had been recently holding events in Iowa with 30 or 40 people.
The interview came as DeSantis continues to be asked questions about why he is still way behind Donald Trump in the GOP primary polls, despite the former president's legal issues, with NBC also reporting on Sunday that DeSantis' presidential campaign fired roughly a dozen staffers as part of cost-cutting measures less than two months after the Florida governor confirmed confirmed his White House bid. DeSantis' office has been contacted for comment.
"I mean, for example, they used to say, 'Oh, the governor doesn't do retail campaigning, he's not going to be able to go to Iowa.' And then, you know, yesterday I'm out there doing events," DeSantis told Fox News' Howard Kurtz.
"You know, we have 30 or 40 people at some of these things, shaking hands, answering questions, doing all that. So these are predetermined narratives that they have."
DeSantis went on to say that he spoke to "thousands" of people in Iowa, which will hold the first GOP primary caucus in January 2024, during his weekend of campaigning in the Hawkeye State. DeSantis said that many of the people he spoke to in Iowa said they had been convinced to back his 2024 campaign after meeting him in person.
"So that's what we're going to be doing over the next six months," DeSantis said.
Kurtz also pressed DeSantis on whether the "doom and gloom" which is surrounding his 2024 campaign, such as the struggling poll numbers and apparent financial issues, is hindering his chances of winning the GOP primary.
"No, not at all," DeSantis replied. "But I think clearly you see an effort to create these narratives. The good thing about it is public and primary voters are very smart.
"They know where these corporate outlets stand on the political spectrum. And so the extent that they become convinced that the media does not want me to be the nominee above all else that will in the long run, absolutely help me."
According to FiveThirtyEight's national average poll tracker, Trump leads the GOP primary polls at 49.7 percent, with DeSantis second at 21 percent. Polls conducted at this stage of the campaign, several months ahead of the first primary, should be taken with a grain of salt as past election cycles have shown that the numbers, not to mention momentum, can change rapidly.
