Ron DeSantis tells Iowa Republicans: ‘I will be rooting for’ Biden for Democratic nominee

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.