Ron DeSantis has some regrets, but earlier in the week, he discussed his biggest one with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, and he thinks it probably cost him the caucuses in Iowa.
Asked if there was anything he could have done differently to boost his chances against Donald Trump, the conservative governor said that he should have gone on more mainstream media.
The Hill writes:
DeSantis, who finished second in the Iowa caucuses Monday, was asked by conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt what miscalculations the governor had made during his presidential run so far.
“What errors did you make that you’re willing to say: I shouldn’t have done this, but I’m going to correct it going forward and I’m going to do well in March,” Hewitt asked Thursday.
“I came in not really doing as much media,” DeSantis said. “I should have just been blanketing. I should have gone on all the corporate shows. I should have gone on everything. I started doing that as we got into the end of the summer, and we did it. But we had an opportunity, I think, to come out of the gate and do that and reach a much broader folk.”
Since starting his presidential campaign last May, the Florida governor struggled to make a dent in former President Trump’s lead in the GOP primary. DeSantis’s team was weighing a shift in media strategy in July, including doing more interviews with mainstream networks and town halls.
The outlet DeSantis Daily explained why the Florida governor felt trepidation for speaking to mainstream outlets, writing, “In his book “Dreams from Our Founding Fathers,” which examined the Constitution and federalist papers, DeSantis openly discussed his longstanding ire towards specific mainstream outlets. He alleged that the media possessed a liberal bias in his book, a viewpoint shared by many conservatives.
As a result of facing censure from news organizations for defying federal directives to close schools and businesses in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, his rapport with the media became especially strained.
Prior to the summer, DeSantis limited one-on-one interviews to only conservative publications during the early stages of his presidential campaign. However, he has now come to regret taking this approach.”
The DeSantis campaign has said they’re determined to stay in the race. Politico noted that “despite warning signs that more losses are in store, DeSantis and his team are pressing ahead with a simple goal: Wait until rival Nikki Haley drops out.
The hope, his campaign says, is for DeSantis to finally get the one-on-one matchup with Trump he has wanted for so long.
‘While it may take a few more weeks to fully get there, this will be a two-person race soon enough,’ said Andrew Romeo, a spokesperson for the DeSantis campaign.”
