Iowa lawmaker flips endorsement to DeSantis after Trump attacks governor

An Iowa lawmaker who previously endorsed former President Donald Trump has decided to back Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after Trump attacked the Republican governor of the Hawkeye State. 

Republican state Sen. Jeff Reichman, who endorsed the 77-year-old former president in March, praised Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds in a statement released on Thursday.

In the statement, Reichman likened Reynolds’ achievements to what DeSantis has accomplished in the Sunshine State, as he announced his new preferred 2024 GOP presidential candidate. 

“Iowa Republicans must be united if we are going to take our country back and reverse Joe Biden’s failures,” Reichman said in a statement.

“Gov. DeSantis has achieved the same type of commonsense policy victories in Florida as we have in Iowa under Gov. Kim Reynolds, and he will deliver historic success for the conservative movement as president as well.”

Trump lashed out at Reynolds on Monday, accusing her of implicitly endorsing DeSantis by appearing at events with him and arguing that she wouldn’t be governor if it wasn’t for him. 

“I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. 

Last week, Reynolds appeared at an event with the Florida governor’s wife, Casey DeSantis, as she launched her “Mamas for DeSantis” initiative in support of her husband’s campaign.

But Reynolds has also appeared at events for other 2024 candidates, including former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC). 

The 45th president has also stunned some Republicans in the Iowa delegation by refusing to attend this week’s Iowa Family Leadership Summit, which will feature Reynolds, DeSantis and other 2024 contenders, and is expected to be attended by more than 2,000 people. 

“Most of them are Iowans, most of them are going to be caucus-goers,” Republican Iowa state Rep. Jon Dunwell told The Post.

“Tucker Carlson is going to be asking the hard questions. This is going to be a great event from a core base and Republican Party – to learn and prepare themselves for 2024 talking about national issues.”

“It just surprises me that President Trump wouldn’t have chosen to show up at this event. I know he’s invited,” Dunwell added.

“It doesn’t really make sense to me that he wouldn’t be coming. I don’t understand why he wouldn’t, I mean, it’s just one of the things you scratch your head at.” 

Dunwell, who is backing DeSantis for president, also couldn’t understand why Trump went after Iowa’s popular Republican governor. 

“And all of a sudden, now we’re seeing press releases and statements picking on Governor Reynolds. I mean, this makes no sense to me. It’s just so surprising to me,” Dunwell said. 

Trump surrogate Kari Lake, who lost her 2022 bid to be Arizona’s governor, will be holding an event in support of the former president on Friday, at the same time as the Family Leadership Summit, just a mile away from the summit. 

A Trump campaign spokesperson attributed Trump’s absence from the Family Leadership Summit to a “scheduling conflict.”

Trump lost the 2016 Iowa Republican caucuses to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) but has won the state in each of the last two general elections.

He has a 24-point edge over his nearest rival, DeSantis, in Iowa, per the latest RealClearPolitics average of polling.