Kim Reynolds delivers much-anticipated Ron DeSantis endorsement

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds boosted the presidential campaign of Florida’s Governor on Monday, delivering a coveted endorsement for Ron DeSantis during a rally in Des Moines.

The endorsement, which comes as Donald Trump leads by nearly 30 points in the most recent Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll of the race, represents the culmination of a DeSantis effort months in the making — and a potential lifeline for a campaign that suddenly finds itself in mortal combat with that of Nikki Haley, who is tied with DeSantis in that same poll.

Reynolds was introduced by First Lady Casey DeSantis, and upon taking the stage, the Iowa Governor referenced a quasi-controversy where Casey DeSantis was called “Walmart Melania,” saying “from one Walmart shopper to another, you rock!”

The Iowa Governor got serious from there, noting Iowa’s unique opportunity to “vet” presidential candidates, and contending she thought “long and hard” about the decision.

“We get to know them on a personal level,” Reynolds said.

Saying the country is “almost unrecognizable,” Reynolds painted a bleak tableau: crime, illegal immigration, fentanyl, and “Biden-nomics” at home, and depredations from Iran, Hamas, and China abroad.

“If we don’t choose right, we are not going to get this country back,” Reynolds said, adding that America needs a President who “puts this country first and not himself.”

“That leader is Ron DeSantis,” Reynolds said.

She extolled their shared commitment to fight COVID-19 mitigation and vaccination pressures, saying they fought “unbelievable pressure, even from the White House.” DeSantis, said Reynolds, stood up to both the “liberal media” and the “Trump administration” in that effort, “acting on real science and not on fear.”

“Ron is focused, he is principled, he is results-driven,” said Reynolds. “He gets things done.”

DeSantis took over soon thereafter, delivering practiced lines, such as the promise that his children won’t bring “cocaine” to the White House and laudatory comments about Reynolds, “one of the greatest governors this state has ever had.”

While he did not list other Iowa Governors he admired, he also talked about their shared approach to COVID-19 and how they took “flack” but now people know “those are the right decisions.”

“Iowa is one of the best governed states in America,” DeSantis said, noting visitors and people who moved to Florida tell him that, which is something he’s said on numerous occasions this year.

DeSantis went on to his narrative of national “decline,” saying the United States has “hit the skids,” with “technocratic elites” and “terrorists” wreaking their particular brand of havoc. Many places are “ungovernable” and beset by an “unaccountable bureaucracy,” and an “elite” that “doesn’t care about you.”

“They just want to sit back and pursue their agenda at your expense. Well, we refuse to do that any longer,” DeSantis said to cheers.

“We must reject decline,” he continued. “We must choose American revival.”

DeSantis castigated Republicans who “refuse to fight for our values” and “bend their knee,” which is something neither Reynolds nor he did, he noted.

“Together, we will give this nation a new birth of freedom,” DeSantis vowed.

The Trump campaign offered preemptive comment Monday afternoon, meanwhile, with spokesperson Steven Cheung diminishing the importance of the endorsement.

“Kim Reynolds’s endorsement of DeSanctus is a prime example of disloyalty in politics. The people of Iowa know what President Trump has done for their state. The fact is that her endorsement does not make any difference in Iowa, because people know President Trump is the undisputed leader of the Republican Party.”

The Democratic National Committee offered its own acidic dismissal of the Reynolds announcement, also before the event in Des Moines.

“From one extreme MAGA governor to another, Kim Reynolds’s endorsement of Ron DeSantis makes perfect sense – America’s two most unpopular, anti-abortion governors are sticking together. Reynolds and DeSantis have been in lockstep on their failed MAGA leadership – signing extreme abortion bans, allowing book bans, and handing out tax giveaways for the ultra-wealthy and big corporations at the expense of hardworking families. Unfortunately for them, doubling down on their shared MAGA agenda won’t revive DeSantis’ floundering campaign.”

We need someone who gets results. Someone who knows when life begins.

Someone who looks to the future. Someone who can WIN!

That's @RonDesantis. And I’m proud to stand here tonight and give him my full support and endorsement for President of the United States! pic.twitter.com/Ojl5TPF7Yb

— Kim Reynolds (@KimReynoldsIA) November 7, 2023