DeSantis says he won't drop out of presidential race if he loses Iowa caucuses

This Sunday, at an event in Iowa, the governor of Florida denied rumors that he would abandon the electoral race if he lost the Iowa caucus that will be held on January 15.

"That's a lie. Yeah, that's a total lie," DeSantis told an audience member during a campaign event in an Iowa suburb. "When they're doing that they are trying to trick you guys by doing this. They're going to do some anonymous source. They do this to me all the time. They say, 'anonymous sources have said this,' and then they run with it."

Early in his address, DeSantis also assured another audience member that he would remain in the race after the Iowa caucuses, considering the primary to be a lengthy electoral process.

"Make no mistake, we've got a mission. We've got to complete a mission. It's a long process. It's an arduous process," said the governor. "I think Iowa is going to be a great place for us to start the process. But we certainly have a lot of road after that. And we're girded for the long battle."

The governor's words come after he denied the possibility of being the vice president of candidate Nikki Haley, who is fighting for second place in the Republican primaries along with DeSantis.

Both DeSantis and Haley are trying to compete against former President Donald Trump, who is sweeping national Republican primary polls in nearly every state.

DeSantis and Haley hope to turn the race around by posting a strong second-place finish in Iowa that would give them momentum to compete in the New Hampshire primary, which will be held in January, and then in South Carolina, which will be held a month later.