DeSantis Campaign Press Release - ICYMI: Ron DeSantis on Iowa TV

"What we need is a new generation of leadership. I think we need somebody that can come in on day one, work for the American people, and fight for them on their issues."

DES MOINES, IA - Ron DeSantis joined KGAN's Skylar Tallal and WHO's Zach Fisher for interviews that aired today. The highlights are below.

Watch the full segment on KGAN here.

On the impact of Kim Reynolds' endorsement:

She endorsed us, and she said I don't want to just put out a press release and sit on the sidelines. She's like I want to be active, I want to help... When she's out there telling people this is the most effective leader I know, he can turn the country around, if you like what we've done in Iowa, he'll be able to do the same stuff for the United States, that really resonates with Iowa caucus-goers. So, I think it's been a huge help.

On how America needs a new, younger generation of leadership:

Look, the founding fathers didn't put that in there. I think that that's largely the determination of the voters. But clearly, Republican voters look at Biden, and almost 100% of us think that he's too old to run again. I think what we need is a new generation of leadership. I think we need somebody that can come in on day one, work for the American people, and fight for them on their issues.

Watch the full segment on WHO's News 13 here.

On what he's learned from campaigning in Iowa:

One of the things I've learned is that Iowans take this responsibility very seriously. They are very attentive to the problems in this country. They believe in this country, but they want to see a different direction. And I saw that reverberate in all corners of the state. It's really been an interesting experience because as governor of Florida, I did all 67 of our county's public events, I was the first governor to do that. So I had already kind of done in Grassley tradition in Florida. And what happens is, is when you show up -- everyone will show up to the populated areas, right -- but when you show up to some of the more rural areas, they appreciate that because they oftentimes get overlooked. And so a lot of people would just say, hey, thanks for coming to our community. We really appreciate it. So I saw a lot of decency, I saw a lot of patriotism, and I actually come away with a lot of hope for the future of this country.

On being in it to win it in Iowa:

We're in it to win it. I mean, you know, we're doing the math, we built the organization, you don't do 30-plus-thousand caucus commitments unless you're in it to win it. You know, I think Ted Cruz got 45,000 votes and won the caucus. So we're going to continue to build that. And it's all about, you know, how do you achieve the plurality in this thing? And you know, we've had the field has narrowed from where we were two months ago. So you have people like Mike Pence and Tim Scott who have gotten out. We view that as a good opportunity for us to coalesce those voters as they make their decision about the way forward.

On the variety of sports teams Iowans root for:

I remember in the spring, before I was a candidate, we did an event for my book with Governor Reynolds in Davenport. And, you know, I see people they got Cubs stuff on, right. Then we were in southwest Iowa, and I see a lot of the chief stuff. But then when we went Northern, I see all the Minnesota Twins and the Vikings stuff. So you can kind of see -- I mean, Iowa, it's a big state geographically. I mean, it's not like it's like Rhode Island. And so, and you see the different regions, the different flavors.