BETTENDORF, Iowa – EXCLUSIVE – Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa prices that former President Trump is “misleading” voters in her state.
“It’s misleading and it’s not fair to Iowans,” the governor stated Monday night time in an interview with Fox Information Digital whereas referring to an advert the Trump campaign is working within the Hawkeye State that spotlights years-old clips of Reynolds praising the previous president.
Reynolds endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis within the race for the White Home final month, and the 2 teamed up once more in Bettendorf, Iowa, with 4 weeks to go till the state’s caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.
Whereas Reynolds supported Trump throughout his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, their relationship soured this previous summer time when the previous president blasted Reynolds for staying impartial within the Republican nomination race – following a long-standing custom of Iowa governors.
DESANTIS TURNS UP THE VOLUME ON TRUMP
Republican Gov. of Iowa Kim Reynolds (left), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (proper), and his spouse, Florida first girl Casey DeSantis (heart), at a marketing campaign occasion in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Dec. 18. (Paul Steinhauser)
“He was upset with me because I was going to stay neutral at the beginning of the campaign for the first-in-the-nation caucus, which I did for seven months,” Reynolds stated in her Fox Information interview and in feedback to the gang minutes earlier.
Trump’s assaults on Reynolds intensified after she endorsed DeSantis.
“It’s not going to make any difference, because the only endorsement that matters is the Trump endorsement,” the previous president claimed at a marketing campaign occasion in Ankeny, Iowa, earlier this month.
Reynolds famous that after she backed DeSantis, Trump stated her “endorsement didn’t mean anything” and known as it “worthless,” including that she was “the worst governor in the country.”
DESANTIS STOPS IN ALL 99 OF IOWA’S COUNTIES — BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP WITH TRUMP?
“That’s on one hand, and now we look at another hand – he’s using me in a commercial that dates back to 2016 and again [is] misleading Iowans as if I was endorsing him and going back and forth,” the governor added. “In 2016 and 2020 I supported President Trump. I endorsed him. I helped him in the state of Iowa. It’s a different day. It’s a different time.”
Pointing to Hawkeye State voters, Reynolds stated “it’s OK for Iowans to say ‘thank you for what you did’ and move on. We need somebody that can win. We need somebody that can follow through on what they said they were going to do.”
Requested for a response, Trump marketing campaign spokesman Steven Cheung requested Fox Information, “is she saying that she lied to voters all those years?”
Former President Trump has taken pictures at Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds since she endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis within the 2024 race for the White Home. (Matthew Putney)
Trump stays the commanding front-runner within the race for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight White Home run.
He made historical past earlier this yr as the primary former or present president to be indicted for against the law together with his 4 indictments, together with in federal court docket in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court docket in Georgia on prices he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The previous president’s authorized difficulties have solely boosted his help amongst Republican main voters.
TRUMP HOLDS A MASSIVE LEAD IN THE POLLS WITH FIVE WEEKS TO GO UNTIL THE IOWA CAUCUSES
Trump holds a particularly formidable double-digit lead over DeSantis and the remainder of the remaining discipline of 2024 nomination rivals within the newest polls in Iowa, however Reynolds stays optimistic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, takes a photograph with Iowa voters following a marketing campaign occasion on Dec. 18 in Bettendorf, Iowa. (Paul Steinhauser)
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Requested in regards to the polls, she informed Fox Information “it can change.”
“The energy, the momentum, is with [DeSantis]. Iowans break late. So we’ve got a lot of time left,” she emphasised. “We’re going work hard to get him across the finish line.”
Fox Information’ Clare O’Connor contributed to this report
