Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says he is not planning to drop out of the 2024 presidential race, even if he does poorly in Iowa.
DeSantis was once considered the top contender to former President Donald Trump but is now polling in third behind neoconservative candidate Nikki Haley in most polls.
Speaking to an MSNBC reporter from the campaign trail on Monday, DeSantis said he is "in it for the long haul."
“You are not dropping out of this race tonight or tomorrow, no matter what? Fair?” the reporter asked.
DeSantis replied, “No, we are going on. We’ve been built for the long haul. It is all about the accumulation of delegates.”
“Even if you come in third place tonight, there is no chance your campaign is dropping out? Is that what you are saying?” the reporter asked in a follow-up question.
“We’re in it for the long haul. We’re going to do well. I know the media likes to do the speculation. I’m excited for the votes to come in because that will be the first real data point,” DeSantis responded. "We're in it for the long haul." Gov. DeSantis claims that he will not drop out of the presidential race even if he comes in third in tonight's #IowaCaucus pic.twitter.com/vd1itBEwBl
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) January 15, 2024
The latest NBC News/Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll showed Trump as the clear frontrunner, with the support of 48 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers. Haley came in second with 20 percent, and DeSantis is in third with 16 percent.
DeSantis’s team compared the primary season to the NFL, saying that Iowa is just one game and that they will continue to fight to win other states.
“It’s like an NFL season,” David Polyansky, deputy campaign manager for DeSantis, told the outlet. “You have game after game. Iowa is the first game. It deservedly gets all of the attention, because it’s the first one on the calendar, but on that night, we’re all going to pick up and fly out of here and go campaign elsewhere.”
“We keep playing,” Polyansky added.
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds has endorsed DeSantis, but it does not seem to have made much of a difference for his campaign.
