DeSantis Arrives In Des Moines For Unplanned Stop To Meet Conservatives After Trump Cancels Rally Over Weather

 Florida Governor Ron DeSantis arrived in Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday evening for an unplanned last minute stop to meet with local conservatives after former President Donald Trump canceled a rally that he was supposed to host there over weather concerns.

DeSantis arrived at Jethro’s BBQ after crossing the state earlier in the day, traveling nearly 300 miles from Sioux Center in the morning to Cedar Rapids in the afternoon.

The restaurant was close to where Trump was supposed to hold a rally, but canceled at the last minute over concerns that there could be stormy weather.

The National Weather Service had issued a tornado watch for a large portion of the state earlier in the day, leading to Trump’s decision to cancel the rally.

 

However, the weather appeared to be good at the time Trump was supposed to speak at the venue in Des Moines, according to videos posted online.

The Des Moines Register reported that the Trump campaign released a list of approximately 150 pro-Trump activists and elected officials who endorsed the former president in the state, including “about a dozen state legislators.”

The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down released a list of endorsements this week of 37 state-level Iowa lawmakers this week, including Senate President Amy Sinclair, Senate Majority Whip Waylon Brown, House Majority Leader Matt W. Windschitl, and House Speaker Pro Tempore John H. Wills.

Speaking in Sioux City earlier in the day, DeSantis said, “We got to demonstrate the courage to lead and the strength to win. If we do that, if we make 2024 election a referendum on Joe Biden and his failures, and if we provide a positive alternative for the future of this country, Republicans will win across the board.”

“If we do not do that, if we get distracted, if we focus the election on the past or on other side issues, then I think the Democrats are going to beat us again,” he said. “And I think it’ll be very difficult to recover from that defeat. And here’s the thing — I used to think our country was locked and loaded. Nothing can go wrong in terms of a free society. But freedom is fragile.”