Des Moines—Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis held his 2024 presidential campaign kick-off at the Eternity Church in Clive, Iowa, drawing roughly 600 attendees, most of which appeared to be members of the congregation.
Upon arriving at the venue, dozens of “DeSantis 2024” yard signs printed by the Never Back Down PAC could be seen lining the sidestreets and walkways of the Eternity Church.
In addition, the Never Back Down wrapped campaign bus was there, as well as over a dozen PAC volunteers and staffers., who were aggressively trying to sign up as many supporters as possible.
Gov. DeSantis and First Lady Casey DeSantis made a brief appearance to the overflow crowd inside the building, tossing out campaign baseball hats before walking down onto the main stage to deliver his campaign address.
Des Moines— @floridianpress Publisher @JavManjarres at @GovRonDeSantis campaign kick off.
Army of @NvrBackDown24 workers pushing DeSantis event. So far, 350-400 attendees at event.
Good turn out. pic.twitter.com/EuF6W2Iyyo
— The Floridian (@Floridianpress) May 30, 2023
DeSantis's speech was very well received, as the popular governor once again threw out all the political red meat talking points and personal accomplishments Republican primary voters like to digest.
DeSantis rattled off his wins against ESG, DEI, and Disney, signing a heartbeat bill into law, and taking on the “woke” ideology in the state.
While all of DeSantis's political positions and recent legislative accomplishments were praised, his recent championing of parental rights receive a standing ovation, as DeSantis signaled that protecting children would be the one issue he believes will resonate with all Americans.
"It is wrong for physicians to conduct sex change operations on minors. That is mutilation and physicians who commit such acts in Florida, not only lose their medical license, they go to jail,” said DeSantis.
First Lady DeSantis also addressed the crowd, where she joked about her their three kids were alone with grandma and probably “destroying the Governor’s Mansion” in Tallahassee..
Toward the end of the program, a lone Progressive heckler was seen briskly walking out of the room while putting up his middle finger to DeSantis, and then getting into a physical altercation on the way out with one attendee.
DeSantis held a press conference shortly after the event, where he mimicked President Joe Biden’s all-too-familiar selective media engagement by calling on reporters that were already pre-selected. Like President Biden, DeSantis read from a list of reporters.
