DeSantis Campaign Press Release - DeSantis Returns to Campaign Trail in Iowa, Blasts Haley for Civil War Gaffe

Des Moines, IA - Ron DeSantis hit the ground running as he returned to the campaign trail in Iowa today. He blitzed from Ankeny to Marion, speaking at multiple events and participating in several interviews.

Ron and Casey DeSantis started off the morning with a Parental Rights Roundtable in Ankeny. At the roundtable, they spoke with school board members and parents about the importance of letting kids be kids, protecting school choice, and supporting America's students.

DeSantis was asked how he differs from Nikki Haley on these issues. He responded,

"She's driven by donors...[but] you've got to be willing to do what's right. She has no record of standing up for kids or being strong on education at all...and where has she been on all these fights we've been having?"

While speaking to reporters after the roundtable, DeSantis was asked about how Nikki Haley refused to mention slavery as a cause of the Civil War at a town hall last night in New Hampshire. He responded,

"[Haley] is not a candidate that's ready for primetime. And she's gotten a pretty free ride from a lot of the corporate press. The minute that she faces any type of scrutiny, she tends to cave and I think that that's what you saw yesterday. It's not that difficult to identify and acknowledge the role slavery played in the Civil War, and yet that seemed to be something that was really difficult. And I don't even know what she was saying. I know she's trying to clean it up. I know she's tried to blame a Democrat plant…I mean, you're gonna get asked a lot of tough questions — that's just the nature of this business. And I think that she showed time and time again that when the lights get hot that she will wilt under pressure, and that was a good example last night."

After the roundtable, DeSantis headed over to KCCI's headquarters where he sat down for an in-studio interview with political reporter Amanda Rooker. DeSantis said during the interview,

"I'm very confident that when you look at evangelical voters, I'm the guy that's delivered on issues that they care about. We've delivered on right to life, we've delivered on protecting kids from things like gender ideology. We've stood and fought for religious liberty, which of course is very important."

Watch the full segment here.

Then, DeSantis traveled to Marion for the first "Stop the Swamp" event, held at Mr. Beans restaurant. He was joined by South Carolina State Senator Josh Kimbrell. Watch the full event here.

DeSantis also spoke with KGAN and KCRG in interviews that will air later tonight and tomorrow.