Iowa Gov Says She’ll Back Trump If He’s Nominee, But Still Firmly Behind DeSantis

Gov. Kim Reynolds has pledged to support whoever the GOP nominee for the 2024 presidential elections is, even if it isn’t her current choice Ron DeSantis.
Iowa Gov Says She’ll Back Trump If He’s Nominee, But Still Firmly Behind DeSantis
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds introduces Republican presidential candidate Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during a campaign event ahead of the 2024 Iowa caucuses in Ankeny, Iowa, on Jan. 14, 2024. Madalina Vasiliu/The Epoch Times
Stephen Katte
Updated:

Former President Donald Trump will receive the support of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds if he is the Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential elections, she said again in a recent interview.

Gov. Reynolds pledged to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis last November, often saying in the weeks since that he has the best chance of winning the 2024 election. Still, in a Jan. 15 on Fox News, she said that ultimately, her loyalty will be to whoever the Republican Party nominee is. Gov. Reynolds has previously said she would support former president Trump if he secured the GOP nomination, stating again that she has “made it clear that I will.”

“I’m a Republican, and you know, all of the candidates running are going to be better than what we have,” she said. “We’ve got to win. I mean, we are resilient people. This country is in trouble. Look at the southern border.”

Former President Trump and Gov. Reynolds have been engaged in a war of words since she broke her vow and state tradition to remain neutral, instead endorsing Gov. DeSantis. Iowa governors have often pledged to stay neutral throughout the state’s closely watched presidential primary. It was the first time since 1996 that a sitting Iowa governor endorsed a candidate in a contested Republican presidential primary.

At the time, the Iowa governor said her decision was because of the importance of electing a candidate capable of defeating President Joe Biden, while also possessing “the skill and the resolve to reverse the madness that we see every single day.”

“Our country is in a world of hurt, the world is a powder keg, and I think it’s just really important that we put the right person in office,” she said.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad, who served from 1983 until 1999, and again from 2011 until 2017, did not endorse a presidential candidate in the Iowa caucuses during his tenure. He said his choice to remain neutral was because he wanted all candidates to feel welcome in the state while on the campaign trail.

Despite the somewhat frosty relationship between Gov. Reynolds and former president Trump now, she is adamant she will support whoever the party selects as the nominee. In Gov. Reynolds’s opinion, “We need to make sure we don’t elect President Biden for another four years.”

However, Gov. Reynolds also made it very clear she would continue to support Gov. DeSantis until the final nominee was announced.

“I just think, too, when you look at the direction of the country, I mean, I believe it’s going to be Ron,” she said.

At this stage, President Trump continues to hold a dominant lead in the polls, ahead of Gov. DeSantis and Nikki Haley, which helped him cement first place by a wide margin in the Iowa caucus on Monday night.

The Iowa caucuses are among the first in the nation but each state will hold an election to vote on who they want as the party nominee, and the overall winner will be announced at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in July.
Stephen Katte
Stephen Katte
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Stephen Katte is a freelance journalist at The Epoch Times. Follow him on X @SteveKatte1
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