‘Is Iowa Do or Die?’ NBC’s Kristen Welker Absolutely Grills Ron DeSantis, Repeatedly Asks if He Plans to Drop Out
NBC’s Kristen Welker put Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) on the hot seat Sunday morning — repeatedly asking if he plans to drop out of the 2024 race before or after the Iowa caucus.
In a tense exchange on Meet the Press, Welker grilled DeSantis about potentially quitting even before the caucus — given former President Donald Trump’s massive lead in the state, and former Governor Nikki Haley’s recent surge to challenge DeSantis for second.
“You have now held events in all 99 of Iowa’s counties,” Welker said. “And yet former President Trump is still 27 points ahead of you in the state. So, Governor, I have to ask you, are you committed to staying in this race through the Iowa caucuses?”
DeSantis completely punted — speaking more broadly about his Iowa operation and endorsements from Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) and influential faith leader Bob Vander Plaats. But Welker promptly followed up.
“So just to be clear, you are committed to staying in the race through the caucuses?” Welker asked.
“Of course I am,” the Florida governor replied. “It’s absurd that I wouldn’t be.”
With DeSantis committing to the race until the caucuses, Welker turned her attention to what happens next — should the governor fail to make a dent in Iowa.
“If you don’t come in at least second, would you then drop out of the race?” Welker asked. “How critical is Iowa?”
“We’re going to win the caucus,” DeSantis said. “We’re doing everything that we need to do.”
“But what if you don’t, Governor?” Welker interjected.
“We’re going to win,” DeSantis said again. He added, “You need to win a majority of the delegates. And so we’re committed to doing that through the whole process to win the majority of the delegates.”
Once more, the Meet the Press moderator tried to pin DeSantis down on his plans if he flops in the Hawkeye state.
“Bottom line: Is Iowa do or die for you, Governor?” Welker asked.
“We’re going to win Iowa,” DeSantis said. “I think it’s going to help propel us to the nomination. But I think we’ll have a lot of work that we’ll have to do beyond that. I don’t think you take anything for granted. And I do recognize that there have been people that have won it who’ve not gone on to win the nomination.”
Watch above, via NBC.
