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DeSantis did not support the vote. An NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll released Monday found DeSantis trailing Trump by more than 30 points. Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley came in third with 16 percent. In what recent election in New HampshireDeSantis fell to fifth place.
But on Tuesday night, DeSantis defended his candidacy and tried to undermine the election, telling the audience that “Iowa’s voters will decide, not the smart people who will vote. ” He added: “I’m sick of elections. Don’t we know that there should be a red wave in November of 2022.
The town hall also came on the same day that Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu supporting Haley — a move DeSantis downplayed. Sununu and Haley d set to go on Fox & Friends on Wednesday morning.
“Even a narcissist like Chris wouldn’t be able to convince the rest of Nikki as a candidate,” he said.
The approval of Sununu represented another blow in the campaign of DeSantis, who crossed Iowa, visiting all 99 districts with the blessing of the popular governor of the Republicans Kim Reynolds. The pro-DeSantis PAC Fight Right called Haley in a 30-second TV appearance in the Iowa market for changing her position on raising the gas tax and withdrawing US funding from the UN.
During the town hall, DeSantis received interest from the audience who asked him about his military service, how he would end illegal immigration and how he would protect public safety if elected. to be president.
One of the unelected Republican voters, identified by CNN as Dawn Mann, asked DeSantis whether the current war in the Middle East or Ukraine is more important for the US to support. DeSantis criticized Europe for not doing enough to supply Ukraine with military aid and emphasized that supporting Israel is more important to US interests.
“They are our strongest partner in the Middle East,” he said. “We have a relationship with them like no other.”
But DeSantis also stepped back to answer some tough questions. When asked about a recent Texas Supreme Court decision that prevented a woman from having an abortion after her fetus was diagnosed with a genetic defect, DeSantis said he was happy to take the case and ” compassion,” while citing his state’s 6-week ban on the procedure. .
This year DeSantis signed legislation to ban abortions for 6 weeks that provide for certain exceptions, such as saving the life of the patient. pregnant or victims of rape and incest. However, DeSantis also supported a Florida law in 2022 that would have banned abortion after 15 weeks and made no exceptions for victims of rape, domestic violence or human trafficking – but abortion is allowed in the case of severe fetal distress.
“Nobody wants this to happen to anybody,” he said. “If you are in that situation as a mother, that is a very difficult thing for you to deal with.”