MILWAUKEE — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Iowa’s delegation to the Republican National Convention to be prepared for Democrats to push President Joe Biden aside and name a new presidential candidate ahead of November’s election.

“I hope and pray that they don’t take that nomination away from him,” DeSantis told the group Wednesday. “We want him to be the Democratic nominee. And I will be rooting for him.”

DeSantis said Biden’s shaky debate performance in late June showed he is not fit for office.

He warned Iowa Republicans that “the knives are out” for Biden among Democrats.

Earlier Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., became the most prominent Democratic lawmaker so far to publicly push Biden to step aside. In a statement Wednesday, Schiff said he has “serious concerns” about Biden’s chances in November.

“I think we need to prepare that something can happen, and something probably will,” DeSantis said. “Democrats usually don’t just cede power. You know, they usually go down kicking and screaming. So be ready.”

He said he expects the media to prop up a new candidate with “hundreds of millions of dollars in positive coverage” in an effort to beat Republican nominee and former president Donald Trump.

The Florida governor, who campaigned in Iowa aggressively ahead of the 2024 Republican caucuses, addressed the delegation on the third day of the national convention his well-received primetime convention speech Tuesday night.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa was also on hand, and she too gloated over Biden’s dismal political outlook.  

“Oh my gosh, folks,” she said. “He is on a nosedive. And the sad thing is they’ve dug in so deep at this point, how on earth did they get rid of him?”

She said Republicans are feeling so confident that they’ve “started measuring curtains” for the Virginia Senate office.

“While I don’t want to say we’re going to waltz into the White House with Donald J. Trump this fall, we can’t take it for granted,” Ernst said. “I don’t want you to take it for granted. But I can tell you with the enthusiasm and the excitement that we have felt during this convention, and what we will feel leading up to the election, we are going to sweep this election not just for President Trump, but we’re going to see a majority in the United States Senate.”

The Iowa delegation gathered for lunch Wednesday on a veranda overlooking sailboats on an expansive Lake Michigan at the Villa Terrace Decorative Arts Museum just outside of downtown Milwaukee.

More: 2028 presidential hopefuls seek to make their mark at Republican National Convention

The early chatter about the 2028 presidential cycle hovered over the group, which was also visited by 2024 presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy and U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas on Tuesday.

Iowa Republicans expect to once again hold the state’s traditional first-in-the-nation caucuses to launch the 2028 presidential nominating contest. And their delegation events are historically well attended by those with future White House aspirations.

DeSantis finished a distant second place in the 2024 Iowa caucuses behind Trump. But at 45, he still has a long political runway ahead of him.

Those ambitions may be clouded by the selection of Ohio U.S. Sen. JD Vance as Trump’s running mate, making Vance the heir-apparent to Trump’s powerful MAGA legacy and an instant 2028 contender.

Brianne Pfannenstiel is the chief politics reporter for the Des Moines Register. She is also covering the 2024 presidential race for USA TODAY as a senior national campaign correspondent. Reach her at bpfann@dmreg.com or 515-284-8244. Follow her on Twitter at @brianneDMR.

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin (KCRG) – Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird got her moment in the RNC spotlight on Tuesday night.

She spoke about what she said are efforts by the Biden Administration to defund the police.

“Never forget, the Democratic Party is the party of defunding the police,” Bird said. “They said it, they mean it, and they can’t wiggle out of it. Republicans get justice for victims, and we put criminals where they belong, in jail.”

Bird also commended Trump in her speech for attending the wake of a fallen New York Police Officer.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

[Editor’s note: The following is a summary of the Iowa Environmental Council from its website. This is part of the series “On the Upside” about people and organizations taking care of the planet.]

Iowa Environmental Council

IEC’s mission is a just, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans.

We envision a state that is a leader in addressing climate change and environmental justice, and in creating resilient communities that embody Iowans’ shared values of respect for all people and the environment.

Through education, advocacy, and coalition-building, we raise awareness, generate action, and create large-scale change. We work on federal, state, and local public policy issues to ensure a just, healthy environment and sustainable future for all Iowans.

IEC holds the following core values:

Our Approach

For more than 25 years, the Iowa Environmental Council has been the largest environmental coalition in the state, leading the way in addressing urgent concerns impacting people and the planet. We are a nonpartisan alliance of diverse organizations and individuals working together to protect and preserve Iowa’s environment.

The Council and its balanced, nonpartisan approach is unique, effective and well-respected. Our ability to gather the knowledge and expertise of our members, assemble diverse stakeholders, collaborate, create productive dialogue, and offer solutions are among some of our greatest skills.

Our Work

At our founding, IEC’s main focus was water quality and land stewardship. In 2005, it meant becoming a leader in moving Iowa toward a clean energy future. Both of those issue areas continue to fit within our scope today. However, those issue areas cannot be addressed without addressing the urgent issues of climate change and environmental justice. Both climate change and environmental justice are root causes of the challenges we face around water quality and land stewardship and continuing our push for a 100% clean energy future.

Climate Change

We believe Iowa can be a leader in mitigating the effects of climate change and becoming a carbon neutral state. Measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change can and should also create new economic markets, increase community resiliency, reduce pollution, protect public health, and improve habitat. We will advocate for a just transition that allows people to realize the full value of Iowa’s land, water, and ecosystem services while securing a more resilient future for Iowa.

Environmental Justice

Our work is guided by a commitment to environmental justice. The consequences of climate change and pollution are not and will not be felt equally by all Iowans. We will look for opportunities to fight systemic racism and inequality where we find it in environmental regulations, laws, and policies, including examining the disproportionate negative impacts of poor water and air quality, flooding, lack of access to public lands and outdoor recreation opportunities, and high energy bills on BIPOC and marginalized communities. We must actively seek to address these inequities, or else the efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change will exacerbate them.

We envision an Iowa that has mitigated climate change and corrected inequities through its energy, water, land, and environmental justice policies. That future Iowa has: