Donald Trump by 30 points in Iowa, DeSantis is aggressively courting evangelicals, touting his extreme anti-LGBTQ+ record and six-week abortion ban.
On social issues, he’s running to the right of the disgraced ex-president. In other words, DeSantis is occupying the Ted Cruz lane.
But the saddest part is, he won’t be nearly as successful. Though Trump throttled Cruz in the primary, the unctuous senator did ultimately win Iowa.
DeSantis is on track to get blown out in the Hawkeye State. So his campaign is adjusting its message accordingly. “A strong second-place showing gives us an opportunity to go in[to] New Hampshire and show success,” a DeSantis official told Politico earlier this month.