Joni Ernst says Ron DeSantis should have ‘focused’ on New Hampshire

Joni Ernst, Ron DeSantis. Image via Ernst's Twitter.

Ahead of the Iowa caucuses, a Senator from the state is questioning Ron DeSantis‘ strategy for after Monday’s vote.

Sen. Joni Ernst told Fox News voters Friday what she thought of the Governor’s decision to go to South Carolina after the caucuses, saying the Floridian may have neglected the First in the Nation Primary state.

“Well, I think it tells us that he maybe hasn’t focused on New Hampshire like he should have. And he’ll just skip right over that and head down to South Carolina. But he has spent a lot of time in Iowa and we’re grateful for that,” Ernst told Bret Baier.

While a spokesman for DeSantis’ campaign frames the decision as a move to “kick our campaign into overdrive in both South Carolina and New Hampshire,” it comes as Nikki Haley is running a very competitive second place to Donald Trump in Granite State polls that find the Florida Governor in single digits, battling Vivek Ramaswamy for a distant third place.

However, he is also in third place in South Carolina, behind the former President and the Bamberg native.

DeSantis’ lack of focus on New Hampshire was noted by Gov. Chris Sununu long before he ultimately decided to back Haley as his preferred Trump alternative.

Back in August, Sununu said he had “concern” about the DeSantis campaign, and urged him to “get on the ground” and “put people on the ground in Iowa in New Hampshire, knocking on doors.”