MILWAUKEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Iowa's delegation to the Republican National Convention to prepare for the possibility that Democrats could oust President Joe Biden and nominate a new presidential candidate ahead of the November election.
“I hope and pray that they don't strip him of the nomination,” DeSantis told the group on Wednesday. “We want him to be the Democratic nominee, and I will be rooting for him.”
DeSantis said Biden's shaky performance in a debate in late June showed he was unfit for the presidency.
He warned Iowa Republicans that “the attack is on” among Democrats against Biden.
Early Wednesday morning, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) became the most prominent Democrat to date to publicly call for Biden to resign. In a statement Wednesday, Schiff said he had “serious concerns” about Biden's chances of running for the presidency in November.
“I think we need to be prepared that something might happen, and probably something will happen,” DeSantis said. “Democrats don't usually give up power easily. They usually fight back and lose. So be prepared.”
He said he expected the media to back the new candidate with “hundreds of millions of dollars of positive coverage” to defeat Republican nominee and former President Donald Trump.
The Florida governor, who has been campaigning aggressively in Iowa ahead of the 2024 Republican caucuses, addressed delegates in a well-received prime-time convention speech Tuesday night on the third day of the national convention.
Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa was also in attendance, and she too boasted about Biden's pessimistic political outlook.
“Well, guys,” she said, “he's on a steep decline, and the sad thing is, they've dug this deep. How on earth do they get rid of him?”
She said Republicans are feeling so confident that they've “begun taking measurements of the fabric” of the Virginia senator's office.
“I don't want to say that Donald J. Trump is going to be swept into the White House this fall, but I don't want you to take anything for granted,” Ernst said. “But the enthusiasm and the excitement that we felt at this convention and the enthusiasm and the excitement that we're going to feel going into the election, I can confidently say that this election is going to give us not only President Trump, but a majority in the United States Senate.”
Iowa's delegation gathered for luncheon Wednesday on the veranda of the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum, just outside downtown Milwaukee, overlooking yachts on the vast expanse of Lake Michigan.
more:2028 presidential candidates are looking to make their presence felt at the Republican National Convention
Early discussions about the 2028 presidential election cycle have been thriving among the group, and 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswami and Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas also visited with the group on Tuesday.
Iowa Republicans will once again host the state's traditional first-in-the-nation caucuses to kick off the 2028 presidential nomination race, and the party's delegation events have historically been well attended by future White House hopefuls.
DeSantis finished a distant second to Trump in the 2024 Iowa caucuses, but at 45, he still has a long political road ahead of him.
Those ambitions may be clouded by the selection of Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio as Trump's running mate, making him an heir to Trump's powerful MAGA legacy and a likely contender for the presidency in 2028.
Brianne Pfannenstiel is chief political reporter for the Des Moines Register. She also covers the 2024 presidential election as senior national elections reporter for USA Today. She can be reached at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter: @brianneDMR.
