Follow Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign across Iowa, and you’re likely to see his “Great American Comeback” slogan plastered on everything from buses to bumper stickers. Now DeSantis is looking for a comeback of his own following months of tumbling poll numbers, weird encounters with the public and growing concerns from top supporters.
DeSantis certainly isn’t making things easy for himself. On Friday, NBC News reported that DeSantis had apparently deceived the public about his June 5 decision to send Florida emergency support personnel to assist with a building collapse in Davenport, Iowa.
Once positioned by Republican strategists as the GOP’s most effective Trump alternative, the DeSantis campaign is revealing a candidate who has more in common with Mitt Romney than Ronald Reagan.
At the time, DeSantis used the tragedy to frame himself as a governor willing to take decisive action to help struggling states. In reality, DeSantis’ team had known for nearly 10 hours that Iowa officials no longer needed Florida’s help. That inconvenient truth didn’t stop DeSantis from taking credit for his nonexistent emergency response — and billing Florida taxpayers nearly $500,000 to send three unneeded specialists to Davenport.
Once positioned by Republican strategists as the GOP’s most effective Trump alternative, the DeSantis campaign is revealing a candidate who has more in common with Mitt Romney than Ronald Reagan. And the Iowa stunt is just the latest in a string of embarrassing gaffes and bizarre strategy decisions that have humiliated DeSantis on the national stage.
But while Romney drew mockery for his hyperfixation on Michigan’s trees and an inability to spell “America,” the DeSantis campaign has added a healthy dose of bigotry to its agenda. Take a blisteringly anti-LGBTQ campaign ad reposted by the DeSantis campaign. The minute-long ad features DeSantis intercut with images of famous movie criminals and serial killers, including “American Psycho’s” Patrick Bateman, as well as a host of oiled-up, shirtless muscle men. The New Republic crowned the video as “the weirdest ad in American political history.”
The transparency of DeSantis’ anti-gay bigotry outraged even some Republicans, who expressed confusion that the ad actually made Republican front-runner Donald Trump look better by comparison. Instead of backing away, DeSantis doubled down, ensuring the story stayed at the top of headlines, while former DeSantis allies took to the opinion pages to bash their ex-friend as an out-of-touch homophobe unfit for the presidency. Oops!
DeSantis is also dogged by an unavoidable awkwardness when meeting voters outside his Florida safe space. For Iowa voters, perceptions matter. Iowans are practiced experts at sniffing out candidates who don’t actually connect with people. And DeSantis’ foray into the Hawkeye State hasn’t gone well. Of course there’s the socially awkward screeching, which turned DeSantis into a punchline during an earlier visit. But his overall Iowa effort is also uniquely uninspiring.
The governor frequently touts Florida-specific issues, like the governor’s war on Disney, when many Iowans are expecting to hear national policy ideas. Even DeSantis’ big July 4 event ended in a mess, with the governor soaked by a rainstorm and playing to a crowd of only a few dozen die-hard supporters. It’s tough to ask for clearer symbolism.
It can feel as if the DeSantis campaign is just a slow reveal of every awkward habit the governor has developed over years cloistered in the GOP echo chamber. From former House colleagues lambasting DeSantis for his rudeness to the governor eating pudding with his fingers, voters can’t say they haven’t gotten to know Ron DeSantis. They just really dislike what they’ve come to see. His support has fallen by half from a peak of 39% in a March CNN/SSRS poll. DeSantis now finds himself in an increasingly dire spot. His support has fallen by half from a peak of 39% in a March CNN/SSRS poll. Those glory days lasted literally days: by the end of March, DeSantis was scraping all-time lows. By June, DeSantis was in freefall: A Harvard University/Harris poll showed him drawing support from just 14% of Republican voters. Good presidential primaries burn away all the artifice surrounding candidates and their carefully choreographed campaigns in favor of a simple question: Do I trust this person? DeSantis has proved effective at generating headlines — but for all the wrong reasons. As Republican voters solidify their opinions, DeSantis is running out of time to convince Americans that he’s actually worthy of their votes. As DeSantis struggles forward in a primary field increasingly dominated by Trump, the governor can take solace in one thing: He hasn’t yet begged an audience to clap for him. I say give it a few more weeks.
Max Burns is a Democratic strategist and founder of Third Degree Strategies. Find him on X, @themaxburns. 
