DeSantis Insists to Tapper He’s in Race ‘For the Long Haul’ Despite New Iowa Polls Showing Him in Distant Third

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis put on an air of confidence for the Iowa caucuses — despite the latest polls showing him well behind.

DeSantis spoke with CNN’s Jake Tapper to start off a full Sunday morning media tour ahead of the caucus vote. The polls show DeSantis well behind Donald Trump and even trailing Nikki Haley for second, and various political observers believe that unless he dramatically beats expectations in the Hawkeye state, it may be the end of the line for his campaign.

Tapper bluntly DeSantis asked “What happens if you finish third? Is that the end of your campaign?” DeSantis answered by insisting “We’re going to do well on Monday. Our voters are very motivated.”

“Our folks are very motivated,” he repeated. “We have spent a lot of time in Iowa because we’ve gone door-to-door, getting people to commit to caucus to us. We have a huge number of people that have committed to caucus, and we expect that these are the people that turn out. So there’s a lot of excitement on the ground. We’re in this for the long haul.”

DeSantis argued the results in Iowa are to difficult to poll accurately, and Tapper asked the governor if his campaign will continue no matter the results. After DeSantis reiterated that he won’t drop out, Tapper brought up the size of Trump’s polling lead, saying “[He’s] winning by the largest margin of any non-incumbent Republican presidential ever, and leading with every demographic group, even the ones that he’s weakest with.”

“Did you underestimate his strong his grasp remains with the Republican Party?” Tapper asked. Again, DeSantis dismissed Trump’s inevitability by saying “There [are] a lot voters who haven’t made a final decision. There’s a lot of voters who are deciding between me and Donald Trump.”

“I think some of these voters appreciate what he did, but they do understand that there is some drawbacks here about nominating him in 2024. I think you’re gonna see a lot of folks will go to the caucus without 100 percent of the minds made up, and that’s part of the reason we’ve organized all these precincts. We’ll have people speaking on my behalf and delivering the message and hopefully able to bring some of those votes home.”

Watch above via CNN.