Iowa Governor Reveals Trump Asked for Her Endorsement Before He Started Attacking Her and She Spurned Him for DeSantis

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) says that former President Donald Trump unsuccessfully solicited her endorsement despite his many attacks on her over the past several months.

Reynolds endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the Republican presidential primary race on Monday, identifying him as “someone who calls out our moral decline for what it is, who looks to the future and not the past, someone who, most importantly, can win.”

Trump took the news hard on Truth Social, wondering “why would anybody endorse Ron DeSanctimonious, who is like a wounded bird falling from the sky?”

“Well, the ‘Nation’s most unpopular governor,’ Kim Reynolds of Iowa, just endorsed him,” he continued. “What’s that all about?”

Trump has also claimed credit for Reynolds’s political career, suggesting that Reynolds was “losing to the Democratic Candidate” in 2018 before he “worked hard to get her elected,” as well as boasted that he doesn’t invite her to his events.

But in spite of his professed disdain for Reynolds, it wasn’t long ago that Trump came to her asking for her support. During a joint interview with DeSantis conducted by NBC’s Dasha Burns, Reynolds said she wasn’t sure what the status of her relationship with Trump was.

“Have you spoken with him, recently?” inquired Burns.

“No, I haven’t,” replied Reynolds.

“When was the last time?” asked Burns.

“Probably the last time he called to ask if I would endorse him and I said I wasn’t at this point,” recalled Reynolds.

The Trump campaign had previously betrayed its desire to be associated with Reynolds in September, when staffers passed out flyers depicting Trump and the governor standing next to each other at a September rally in the Hawkeye State.

Reynolds, who won re-election in 2022 by 18.5%, also told Burns that she doesn’t believe he can win the presidency if he wins the Republican nomination.

Watch above via NBC.