DeSantis Campaign Press Release - Back on the Road to the 'Full Grassley'

DeSantis visits five new counties in Iowa on day one of a three-day swing

Tallahassee, FL - The DeSantis family is back in Iowa for a three-day swing. DeSantis today hit five new counties as a special guest with Never Back Down on his continued quest to visit all of the state's 99 counties.

He started off the day with a packed meet and greet in at Smokey Row Coffee in Ankeny. The event was over capacity and the parking lot outside was filled with another 100+.

"As Americans this morning, we all stand with the state of Israel," DeSantis said at the meet and greet.

Fox News reported on DeSantis' comments in a gaggle with reporters in an article titled "DeSantis Blasts Biden for 'sleeping on the job,' starting calls hours after Israel terror attacks began." Read the full article HERE.

He stopped to talk to the overflow crowd outside.

"We have it within our power to reverse this nation's decline. We have an opportunity to usher in a Great American Revival and get this country a new birth of freedom and that is exactly why I'm running for president," DeSantis told the overflow crowd.

Then, Ron DeSantis, along with First Lady Casey DeSantis, Madison, Mason, and Mamie, went to Oktoberfest Ottumwa in Wapello County (county 59 of 99) for some family fun.

Afterwards, he hit county #60 at M3 Fabrication & Powder Coating in Davis County.

DeSantis then held a meet and greet in Keosauqua in Van Buren County.

For dinner, DeSantis hit County #62 by visiting the Fort Diner in Lee County, and for his last stop of the evening paid a visit to State Senator Jeff Reichman's fundraiser, checking off County #64 in the process.

During the day, DeSantis joined Newsmax for a phone interview to talk about the terrorist attacks in Israel.

"Our strongest ally in the Middle East is under attack and he's just sleeping through the night? We need a president that's going to be able to respond to those 3AM phone calls and show some leadership."

DeSantis was also interviewed by Ottumwa Radio, where he was asked what makes him stand out among other Republican presidential candidates:

"One, I'm the only veteran running for President. I'd be the first president elected since 1988 that's served our country in a war overseas. Second, I'm a dad of a six-, five-, and three-year-old, so all these issues with education, parents' rights, that's very personal to me. And as President, I think it'd be good to have a family, young family in the White House again. And then I'm the only guy running who, everything I've promised the voters I would do as governor of Florida, I delivered on 100% of my promises. We did more America First policy in Florida than anybody running for president. And as President United States, you can trust me to follow through and deliver on the promises. And it's one thing to sound good in a campaign. It's one thing to go around. But when you get in, you've got to be able to bring all this to fruition. If we don't do that, we're not going to be able to reverse the decline that our country's in."