Governor Ron DeSantis makes campaign stop in Tampa
TAMPA, Fla. - Governor Ron DeSantis made a stop in Tampa Thursday afternoon as his bid for the White House continues.
DeSantis has been crisscrossing the country, making coast-to-coast appearances over the last week to highlight what he’s calling a campaign comeback.
On Wednesday, DeSantis announced he’s "shattered expectations" by raising $15 million in the last three months. He also says he’s going all in on Iowa by moving campaign staff to the first primary voting state.
In an appearance this week on Fox News, DeSantis told host Neil Cavuto that he plans to make stops in all 99 counties in Iowa, challenging GOP front-runner Donald Trump to match him on the ground and meet him at a debate.
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"Donald Trump should show up at the debates," explained DeSantis, who went on to assert Trump views him as his biggest challenger. "He spent over $25 million in this campaign attacking me, by the way. That shows you that they do view me as the threat. You’ve got to earn this. I'm going to earn it."
File: Ron DeSantis
Recent months haven’t looked as rosy as the picture the DeSantis campaign is trying to paint. In July, DeSantis laid off a third of his campaign staff.
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Despite two debates among GOP candidates, in which Trump notably declined to participate, DeSantis has continued to lose ground in the polls.
The latest Real Clear Politics polling shows Trump with a 43-point lead over DeSantis, who is polling in second place at 13.5-percent. In Iowa-specific polls, Trump has a smaller, though still overwhelming lead of 33 points.
File: Ron DeSantis
Things are trending even worse for DeSantis in early voting states like South Carolina and New Hampshire.
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The latest New Hampshire polling numbers have Nikki Haley leap frogging DeSantis as the runner up with 19-percent of the vote to DeSantis’ 10-percent, according to a USA Today/Suffolk poll released Tuesday.
File: Ron DeSantis
Haley is also polling second in her home state of South Carolina with 18-percent to DeSantis’ 10-percent, according to Fox Business polling.
DeSantis’ rally in Tampa was be held in downtown at the Vault.