BETTENDORF, Iowa – EXCLUSIVE – Charged by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa that former President Trump “misled” voters in her state.
“It’s misleading and it’s not fair to Iowans,” the governor said Monday night in an interview with Fox News Digital while referring to an ad run by the Trump campaign in the Hawkeye State that spotlights year-olds. clip of Reynolds praising the former president.
Reynolds endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the race for the White House last month, and the two reunited in Bettendorf, Iowa, with four weeks until state caucuses begin on the GOP presidential nominee calendar.
Although Reynolds supported Trump during his 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns, their relationship soured this past summer when the former president criticized Reynolds for remaining neutral in the Republican nomination race — following long tradition of Iowa governors.
DESANTIS TURNED UP THE VOLUME ON TRUMP
Republican Gov. of Iowa Kim Reynolds (left), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (right), and his wife, Florida first lady Casey DeSantis (center), at a campaign event in Bettendorf, Iowa, on Dec. 18. (Paul Steinhauser)
“He got mad at 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 said in his Fox News interview and in earlier comments the crowd minutes.
Trump’s attacks on Reynolds intensified after he endorsed DeSantis.
“It won’t make any difference, because the only endorsement that matters is the Trump endorsement,” the former president said at a campaign event in Ankeny, Iowa, earlier this month.
Reynolds noted that after he endorsed DeSantis, Trump said his “endorsement meant nothing” and called it “worthless,” adding that he was “the worst governor in the country.”
DESANTIS STOPPED IN ALL 99 OF IOWA’S COUNTIES — BUT WILL IT HELP HIM CLOSE THE GAP ON TRUMP?
“That was on the one hand, and now we’re looking at the other hand – he’s using me in a commercial dating back to 2016 and again. [is] wooing Iowans like I’m endorsing him and back and forth,” the governor added. “In 2016 and 2020 I supported President Trump. I endorse him. I helped him in the state of Iowa. Another day. It’s a different time.”
Pointing to Hawkeye State voters, Reynolds said “It’s OK for Iowans to say ‘thank you for what you did’ and move on. We need someone who can win. We need someone who can follow through they will do.”
Asked for a response, Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung asked Fox News, “is he saying he lied to the voters all those years?”
Former President Trump shot Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds since he endorsed Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the 2024 race for the White House. (Matthew Putney)
Trump remains the front-runner in the race for the Republican nomination as he makes his third straight run at the White House.
He made history earlier this year as the first former or current president to be indicted for a crime in his four indictments, including in federal court in Washington, DC, and in Fulton County court in Georgia in cases that he tried to overturn the 2020 presidential election . The former president’s legal woes have only strengthened his support among Republican primary voters.
TRUMP TAKES STRONG LEAD IN POLLS WITH FIVE WEEKS UNTIL IOWA’S CAUCUS
Trump has a commanding double-digit lead over DeSantis and the rest of the field of 2024 nomination rivals in the latest Iowa polls, but Reynolds remains optimistic.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate, poses for a photo with voters in Iowa following a campaign event on Dec. 18 in Bettendorf, Iowa. (Paul Steinhauser)
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Asked about the polls, he told Fox News that “it could change.”
“The energy, the momentum, is included [DeSantis]. Iowans are lagging behind. So we still have a lot of time left,” she emphasized. “We’re going to work hard to get him across the finish line.”
Clare O’Connor of Fox News contributed to this report
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