Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a rally on Tuesday in Greenville, S.C. DeSantis stopped in South Carolina first, after his second place end within the Iowa caucuses, earlier than heading on to New Hampshire.
Jeffrey Collins/AP
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Jeffrey Collins/AP
Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at a rally on Tuesday in Greenville, S.C. DeSantis stopped in South Carolina first, after his second place end within the Iowa caucuses, earlier than heading on to New Hampshire.
Jeffrey Collins/AP
GREENVILLE, S.C. — The skies above the airplane hangar the place Ron DeSantis spoke to a packed crowd in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday morning have been muted and grey, however the Florida governor spoke with rays of optimism after his efficiency within the 2024 Iowa Caucus the evening earlier than.
Presidential contenders normally trek straight to New Hampshire, the following state on the nominating calendar, however DeSantis’ cease within the Palmetto State was a focused message to rival Nikki Haley, South Carolina’s former governor who completed simply behind DeSantis in Monday’s contest. The overt a part of that message is that he plans to compete — and win — on her dwelling turf.
”This is a vital state,” DeSantis informed reporters after delivering a stump speech and answering questions from voters who braved the chilly to listen to his message about ”woke ideology” within the army, mass firing of federal authorities staff and different plans for if he turns into president.
”Nikki Haley, that is her dwelling state, if she will’t win this then I do not see how she might say she’s gonna win on Tremendous Tuesday or these different states,” he added.
The subtext delivered all through his remarks is that DeSantis views himself as the one viable candidate to tackle former President Donald Trump who handily received in Iowa with simply over 50% of the vote, enjoys leads in just about each state-level and nationwide major ballot and earned extra delegates than DeSantis and Haley mixed.
”Half the folks needed any individual else,” DeSantis argued.
In South Carolina, DeSantis attacked Haley as ”liberal,” stated she had no main achievements whereas serving as governor and argued her help within the presidential race does not come from conservatives.
”Her basic drawback is that she doesn’t have help amongst Republicans,” he stated. ”She’s counting on non-Republicans, which isn’t the way in which you win a Republican nomination.”
However DeSantis faces a tough path in direction of successful the nomination himself. Operating a marketing campaign that has emphasised most of the similar culturally conservative stances and points which have drawn a lot of the social gathering’s base to help Trump, DeSantis has didn’t convert a significant share of Trump’s voters to help his marketing campaign and alienated some average components of the Republican Social gathering nervous about competitiveness and viability within the basic election.
DeSantis can be trailing each Trump and Haley in polling of the New Hampshire major slated for subsequent week and dangers not incomes delegates from that state. Candidates are required to fulfill a ten% threshold of votes to be awarded delegates.
In Nevada later this month, DeSantis and Trump are the one candidates on the delegate-earning caucus whereas Haley is the one main candidate on the state-run major that won’t rely in direction of incomes the nomination. Successfully, this implies Haley isn’t contesting Nevada, one thing DeSantis was fast to level out.
”Nikki Haley isn’t competing in Nevada in any respect,” DeSantis stated. ”She’s simply not going to win any delegates in Nevada.”
”We’re gonna win delegates in Nevada,” he pledged.
There shall be greater than two weeks between Nevada and the South Carolina contest, which might see last-ditch efforts for Haley and DeSantis to interrupt out and mount a severe problem to Trump, by advantage of South Carolina’s delegates being awarded to the winner in every of its seven Congressional districts in addition to the general statewide winner.
Tuesday evening, DeSantis is slated to look at a CNN city corridor in New Hampshire, whereas Haley and Trump have each indicated they are going to skip a deliberate debate in New Hampshire later this week.