"I don't think anyone's ever done an Iowa caucus with this amount of institutional and grassroots support, and it's only going to build from here."
Des Moines, IA - Ron DeSantis joined Kristen Welker on NBC's Meet the Press. The highlights are below.
Watch part one HERE and part two HERE.
On completing the "Full Grassley" and his strong momentum in Iowa:
Doing all 99 counties is a tradition here. It's something that Governor Reynolds advised that I do. And it's a way to, one, show that you're earning people's support. Two, it's a way to hear from real people outside of kind of the media bubble about what's important to them. And then I think three, it reminds you that at the end of the day, you're a servant, you're not a ruler, and we really believe in servant leadership. So we went everywhere. We showed up, we took questions, and we've been able to build a really incredible organization. We've got over 30,000 people that already committed to caucus for us. We're adding more every day. Of course, we have the endorsement by the great governor here, Kim Reynolds, and of course by Bob Vander Plaats most recently from The Family Leader. So I don't think anyone's ever done an Iowa caucus with this amount of institutional and grassroots support, and it's only going to build from here. And we look forward to being victorious on January 15.
On his commitment to the Iowa Caucus:
If you look at past Iowa caucus winners, and compare to what people were saying in November with this poll or that poll, it almost never comes out the same way. So we have a great base of support. We have a much wider base of people who are potential caucus-goers who believe that I've been a great governor and would be a good president. And we've just got to bring that home when people start to make their decisions. And they will be doing it. But I'll tell you one thing, what people in Iowa, and even the other early states, they do not want the media choosing the Republican nominee. They do not want narrative to trump over their decisions. And so I see a lot of resistance on the ground here to some of the things that have tried to be spun, whether it's through polls, whether it's through pundits, and I think that's a good thing. I think you're going to see, on caucus night, peoples' voice be heard.
On ending the weaponization of government:
The issue is why you're you running. Are you running for your personal issues, or are you running for the American people's issues? And I'm running for the American people's issues. And now part of that is this government is out of control. We have seen weaponization of agencies like the DOJ and the FBI and the IRS. I'm going to end that weaponization. But that's not because I'm doing it for me. It's because I'm doing it for the people that have been under the thumb of these agencies. And I'm going to restore the rule of law. So I think of Donald Trump is saying his whole thing is retribution for himself. Well, what about all the other people that have had issues with that? Is that somebody, are those people he's going to be standing up with? So I don't think you can say it's about your enemies. I think you've got to say it's about the American people's future. And the goal is to end weaponization, period, and to have a single standard of justice employed, not to basically do what we don't like is being done now, just in a different direction.
Ron DeSantis, DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on NBC's Meet the Press Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/369210