Ron DeSantis kicks off his presidential campaign in Iowa and takes some subtle jabs at Trump: "There is no substitute for victory"

Ron DeSantis kicked off his presidential campaign Tuesday night in Iowa, where he expounded on his campaign platform, criticized Joe Biden, and was subtle in distancing himself from Donald Trump, whom he never named. The venue was Eternity Church, a Christian church located in Clive just outside of Des Moines, where supporters cheered their candidate on from start to finish.

With Governor Kim Reynolds as the opening act, DeSantis entered the stage to a standing ovation to the beat of Rick Derringer’s “Real American,” the song that accompanied former wrestler Hulk Hogan during all his entrances throughout his WWE career. “I am a real American. Fight for the rights of every man. I am a real American. Fight for what’s right! Fight for your life!” says the song's refrain, which looks like it will accompany the Republican during all his campaign events.

In a blue blazer and light blue shirt, DeSantis began his speech by thanking those in attendance and promising to lead the “great American comeback,” thus returning Joe Biden to “his basement in Delaware.” “American decline is not inevitable, it is a choice, and we must choose another direction for our country. We must choose a path that will lead to the revival of American greatness. We must restore sanity in our nation, we need fiscal and economic sanity,” continued the Florida governor.

In terms of the content of the speech, the candidate criticized the immigration system, the current state of the economy and its impact on the middle class, as well as crime, the debt ceiling agreement, and educational content in schools. “No American should have to compete in the woke Olympics just to get a job or just to get into school. We also must return normalcy to our communities. We are a sovereign country, and our borders must be respected,” he added.

To get out of the current situation, he promised to build on his administration in Florida, where he assured that he governs from a place of “common sense.” Since his arrival as governor in the Sunshine State, the GOP has managed to obtain more registered voters than the Democrats, something that was reflected in the 2022 election when DeSantis beat his opponent by almost 20 percentage points.

DeSantis vs. Trump

The former congressman was extremely subtle when referring to his biggest rival in the Republican primaries, Donald Trump. Without even mentioning him by name or last name, he launched several subtle jabs against him. “I’ve been listening to these politicians talk about securing the border for years and years and years. I can tell you, if I’m president, this will finally be the time when we bring this issue to a conclusion,” he said, referring to the former president.

He also sought to distance himself from his opponent when talking about Covid-19. In this field, he assured that Florida “chose freedom over Faucism” during the pandemic. “You don’t empower someone like Fauci. You bring him into the office and tell him to pack his bags,” he added.

Trump recently began criticizing the governor’s handling of the Coronavirus, something DeSantis was asked about at the post-speech press conference, which lasted about an hour. “The former president is now attacking me, saying that [Andrew] Cuomo did better handling Covid than Florida did. I can tell you this; I could count the number of Republicans in this country on my hands that would rather have lived in New York under Cuomo than lived in Florida in our freedom zone,” he replied.

Seconds later, he was asked directly about his main difference with the magnate. DeSantis did not hesitate and took the contrast to the electoral arena, where he claims he has an advantage in the general elections. “There is no substitute for victory,” he stated while highlighting Trump would drive many independent voters away from the GOP. “There are a lot of voters who just aren’t going to ever vote for him,” he concluded.