It rained on Ron and Casey DeSantis’ parade in New Hampshire on Tuesday.
The Republican presidential candidate, his wife, and daughter Madison got soaked when they marched in a Fourth of July parade in Merrimack, New Hampshire.
The two were seen laughing it off as they greeted supporters, smiling as they marched through the downpour. Merrimack is a tiny town near Manchester with a population of 25,000.
Earlier in the day, the family marched in a parade in Wolfeboro, N.H., as DeSantis tries to increase his poll numbers in the state that holds the nation’s first presidential primary.
Florida’s first couple were in good spirits, despite one of his top allies admitting that his campaign is ‘way behind’ and Donald Trump is the ‘runaway frontrunner’.
Republican presidential candidate Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his wife Casey and their daughter Madison walk in the Fourth of July Parade in the rain in Merrimack, New Hampshire
Casey DeSantis gave Madison a ride as Ron DeSantis waves to the crowd
Several presidential candidates descended on the state for the Fourth – Tim Scott also marched in the Merrimack parade.
Donald Trump leads in the state, however. He tops DeSantis, his closest competition, by 28 points in the RealClearPolitics polling average.
The former president spent the holiday at his golf club in Bedminister, N.J., but, last Tuesday, keynoted the New Hampshire Federation of Women’s Lilac Luncheon, which is their largest annual fundraising gala.
And he campaigned in South Carolina on Saturday.
Other presidential candidates were in Iowa on Tuesday, which holds the nation’s first caucuses.
Mike Pence marched in the Urbandale, Iowa, Independence Day parade, along with former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
DeSantis’ Fourth of July appearance in New Hampshire comes after a spokesman for his super PAC gave a frank assessment of the 2024 race, admitting ‘we are way behind’ and Trump the ‘runaway frontrunner.’
Steve Cortes, a former Trump surrogate who now is the spokesman for DeSantis’ Never Back Down PAC, participated in a Twitter Spaces discussion Sunday night with the anonymous Twitter user CryptoLawyerz.
Ron DeSantis shakes hands with a supporter during the rainy parade
Casey DeSantis carries Madison on her back as she marches behind husband Ron in the rain
The DeSantis family laughed off the rainy weather
Ron DeSantis is trailing Donald Trump in polls in New Hampshire
Cortes said he switched to team DeSantis because he believed the governor was more electable than Trump – but that’s if he makes it out of the Republican primary.
‘Right now in national polling we are way behind, I’ll be the first to admit that,’ Cortes said. ‘I believe in being blunt and honest. It’s an uphill battle but clearly Donald Trump is the runaway frontrunner.’
Cortes said he believed the primary – which has attracted at least 11 mainstream Republican candidates – was really down to two people, Trump and DeSantis.
He said that DeSantis was the ‘clear underdog.’
‘In the first four states which matter tremendously, polls are a lot tighter, we are still clearly down,’ he said. ‘We’re down double digits, we have work to do.’
In Iowa, the state that holds the first GOP caucus, Trump currently has a 21.3 percent advantage over DeSantis, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average.
In New Hampshire, that number stretches to 28 percent.
In South Carolina, DeSantis performs a little bit better – but Trump is still beating him by 19.7 percent.
There hasn’t been significant public polling done yet for Nevada, which is also generally one of the first four states that hold primaries or caucuses.
While Cortes became politically involved thanks to Trump, he decided to switch to team DeSantis because he was looking for the ‘most conservative, most patriotic populist, most electable candidate.’
Trump, he said, ‘unfortunately has not gained voters.’
‘I think he has shed quite a few,’ Cortes said.
Cortes still spoke warmly of Trump – and said a tough primary against DeSantis would help the former Republican president.
‘If we do not prevail – and I have every intent on winning, I didn’t sign up for this to come in second – but if we do not prevail I wil tell you this, we will make President Trump better for having this kind of primary,’ Cortes said.
Steve Cortes, the spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ super PAC, participated in a Twitter Spaces conversation Sunday night and gave a frank assessment of the 2024 Republican primary race
On Monday, Trump’s campaign had a field day with Cortes’ comments, highlighting the quotes and a Politico article about the Twitter Spaces interview.
‘Ron DeSantis is losing badly and Donald Trump is a patriotic populist. Those are two very true statements. Both were said last night by SteveCortes, spokesman for DeSantis’ Super PAC Never Back Down,’ an email from the Trump campaign said Monday.
‘Between DeSantis’ awful launch on Twitter Spaces to Cortes’ nighttime confessional, the DeSantis Camp should maybe take a break from the medium,’ the Trump campaign also said.
DeSantis’ presidential announcement on Twitter was plagued by glitches and was branded a flop.
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