Global Courant
DES MOINES, IOWA – The current two top contenders for the Republican presidential nomination exchange verbal fire over the term “wake up.”
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told reporters on Saturday that “waking up poses an existential threat to our society.”
DeSantis, who greeted Republican activists at a major GOP 2024 presidential cattle call in Iowa, the state whose primaries lead to the Republican White House nomination calendar, was asked about comments former President Donald Trump made two days earlier.
DESANTIS, PENCE, HALEY, SLAM TRUMP ABOUT KIM JONG UN COMMENTS
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis speaks to Iowa voters at Senator Joni Ernst’s annual Roast and Ride, which attracted all but one declared GOP presidential candidate this year, on June 3, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa (Fox news)
“I don’t like the term ‘awake’ because I hear ‘awake, awake, awake.’ It’s just a term they use, half the people can’t even define it, they don’t know what it is,” the former president said during remarks at the Westside Conservative Club in Urbandale, Iowa, on Thursday.
When asked about Trump’s comments, the Florida governor said on Saturday that “to say it’s not a problem just shows that you don’t understand what a lot of these issues are right now.”
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Trump, who launched his third straight White House campaign last November, is the current leading leader in the polls.
Former US President Donald Trump arrives to meet with local Republican leaders at the Machine Shed restaurant in Urbandale, Iowa, USA on Thursday, June 1, 2023. Trump returned to the state on Wednesday to begin a series of appearances and interviews, including a Fox News town hall with Sean Hannity that airs today. Photographer: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
DeSantis, who has seen his stature rise among conservatives across the country in recent years, in part because of his culture wars against some major corporations, school unions and the media. He often praises Florida as “where the watchdog goes to die.”
The governor is firmly second in the GOP nomination polls, far behind Trump but well ahead of the rest of the field of actual and potential contenders.
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DeSantis at the Iowa State Fairgrounds with Sen. Joni Ernst’s Roast and Ride. The annual motorcycle ride, which benefits veterans, drew all declared Republican presidential candidates except Trump this year.
Paul Steinhauser is a political reporter from New Hampshire.
