Polls might not show it, but Ron DeSantis says he’s doing ‘very well’ in Iowa

Ron DeSantis says he’s doing “very well” in Iowa despite polls suggesting he’s way behind Donald Trump.

DeSantis is trailing the former President 44% to 17% in the Race to the White House polling average, but the Governor says his campaign’s strategy of concentrating on the Hawkeye State will pay off.

“I think we’re doing very well in Iowa. I would not trade places with anybody else,” DeSantis said on the “Dana Show.” The Governor was responding to a question about whether the state was “make or break” for him.

“At the end of the day, this can be a long slog as, you know, it depends on how the field shapes up and everything. We’re built for the long haul. We’ll be there all the way until the end. But I really like what’s happening for us in the state of Iowa right now,” DeSantis added.

DeSantis went on to note there is no “national Primary,” adding that a “national poll” is “not the same as what’s happening in these early states.”

“And we’re focusing on the early states because that’s how the process works and that’s how the delegates are awarded,” DeSantis added.

DeSantis has vowed to hit all 99 counties in Iowa in what is called the “Full Grassley,” a reference to U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s campaign style over the decades. He has suggested that not only is Iowa a two-man race between him and Trump, but that the former President is taking extraordinary measures to blunt his momentum.

During an interview on the Guy Benson Show, Ron DeSantis blasted Trump for upstaging his stop at the Iowa State Fair.

“When I was at the Iowa State Fair with (Gov.) Kim Reynolds, that’s when they did their counter-program. I think he was on the ground for 45 or 50 minutes. I was the only candidate he cared about in Iowa. He came because I was there and he wanted to try to take some of the attention away from us,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis participated in a so-called “Fair Side Chat” with Reynolds Saturday, but Trump upstaged him, including by having his plane fly over the Governor’s photo op cooking pork steaks, and by having a plane with a banner that said “Be Likable, Ron” overhead when the Governor was campaigning.

Trump, who said he had a “record crowd,” was accompanied to Iowa by various Florida members of Congress who have endorsed him, including U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Greg Steube and Mike Waltz.

Gaetz, who was a help to DeSantis in 2018’s campaign for Governor, got the best line of all the members of Congress about his erstwhile ally, talking about how burgers were cooked, going from rare to well done, and saying “the most done you can be is Ron DeSantis.”