Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis might have hoped to find a few supporters at this weekend’s Iowa State Fair, but those hopes were at least somewhat dashed when he was met with crowds who chanted, “We want Trump!” right to his face. To make matters worse for the distant second contender for the Republican nomination, Trump also had his private jet fly over the state fair — more than once.
DeSantis was on hand to flip burgers and reach potential voters in a key early state where Trump’s lead remains in the double digits. Those plans went awry as he tried parting a veritable sea of Trump’s chanting base.
DeSantis was again met with disrespect ahead of his planned speech with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds when a second plane flew through the sky, trailing a sign that read “Be likable, Ron!” behind it.
The governor’s likeability — or lack thereof — has been a constant topic of discussion from both observers and the Trump camp, which has attempted to paint their political rival as difficult to warm up to (a charge that DeSantis himself does little to downplay). As Francis Rooney, current Florida congressman and former “major Republican contributor,” told Politico in January 2023, “Ron is a little reserved and dry compared to George W. Bush and Bill Clinton. He is what he is. So what he needs to do is organize his campaign to minimize that characteristic.”
On Tuesday, DeSantis replaced his campaign manager in what has been considered an attempt at getting a fresh start for a campaign that’s seemingly failing before it’s really begun. Generra Peck was replaced by James Uthmeier, though Peck will be remaining on the campaign as a strategist.
Campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said of Uthmeier, “He is needed where it matters most: working hand in hand with Generra Peck and the rest of the team to put the governor in the best possible position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden.”
Peck was reassigned only weeks after DeSantis fired a top aide who produced and shared a video that included a known Nazi symbol.
Right now, it’s too soon to tell if Uthmeier will bring about the desired result for DeSantis and his team, but it’s unlikely that the governor’s political foes will get these visions of the Iowa State Fair out of their heads any time soon.
As Brianne Pfannenstiel of the Des Moines Register summed it up: “Iowa State Fair snapshot: A girl is twirling a flaming baton onstage as a plane trailing a ‘Be likeable Ron!’ banner flies overhead.”
