Washinton Post
I inserted a little emphasis towards the end of quote because the DeSantis Iowa-based turnout theory fell apart with contact with the next election. We're not seeing a lack of enthusiasm in this turnout. We'll see what the next few bring.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that Donald Trump’s commanding victory in Iowa should be “a huge warning sign” for Republicans, comments critical of the former president’s influence on the party that come just days after DeSantis dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.
Speaking on the “Steve Deace Show,” DeSantis warned that the low turnout for the Iowa caucuses was reflective of conservatives who are expressing their discontent with Trump by staying away from the polls. He said his team found Iowa Republicans who caucused in 2016 but who were refusing to do so again in 2024
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As evidence, DeSantis cited the turnout at the caucuses. “To have 110,000 people show up, when in 2016 you had 186,000 show up — when Iowa has more Republicans this year than they did in 2016 — that shows you there’s a lot of our voters who have checked out,” he said, without addressing the record-low temperatures on that day.
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In a result tallied after DeSantis’s comments, Trump won the New Hampshire primary Tuesday with a decisive victory over former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, with voter turnout projected to be at a record high.
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A day later, he appeared ready to veto a proposal that could help pay Trump’s mounting legal fees. The bill proposing financial support for Florida residents who run for president was put forth by Jimmy Patronis, Florida’s chief financial officer and a member of DeSantis’s gubernatorial Cabinet.
DeSantis sounded a note of caution in his comments Tuesday: “When I have people come up to me who voted for Reagan and … have been conservative their whole life, [who] say that they don’t want to vote for Trump again, that’s a problem. So he’s got to figure out a way to solve that. I think there’s an enthusiasm problem overall.”