Ron DeSantis switches up rhetoric, now says Florida is ‘the Iowa of the South’

In his first of four Iowa stops Wednesday, presidential candidate Ron DeSantis offered a variation on his theme that Florida is the “Iowa of the Southeast.”

He now says Florida is the “Iowa of the South,” contrasting it with Iowa being “the Florida of the North.”

“Look, when they used to say that Iowa was the Florida of the North. You know, I (said), ‘Hey, if we’re going to say Florida is the Iowa of the South, that’s fine with me because you guys are doing a good job.'”

The Governor told a crowd in West Des Moines on Tuesday that Florida was the “Iowa of the Southeast.”

“People have said that Iowa is the Florida of the North, but I’ll tell you it very well may be that Florida is the Iowa of the Southeast,” DeSantis said. “Iowa is setting the standard.”

The Governor has made these comparisons a staple of his stump speeches in Iowa and Utah, conservative states pivotal to his presidential push.

DeSantis also recycled content about how “happy” people in Iowa are compared to those in Illinois during Wednesday’s first speech.

“And when people leave Illinois, whether it’s vacation or whether it’s to move, they’re not happy with what’s going on in Illinois. Some of them are very bitter about how the area has been governed and how the city has been destroyed.”

“But when Iowans are in Florida, you know, they’re happy. Yes, they like to be in Florida. Maybe they spend some time there, but they appreciate their state and they understand that it’s a well governed state,” DeSantis said.

This theme was also part of a previous Cedar Rapids speech.

“I run into people in Florida, Naples, Fort Myers,” DeSantis said. “They will tell me if they’re from Illinois, I mean, you can sense the bitterness about how Illinois is governed. They’re, they’re happy to be in Florida, but they are frustrated.”