Former President Trump\u2019s presidential campaign scoffed at new arguments made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis\u2019 team that the 2024 Republican nomination is a two-man race, with everyone else playing spoiler. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018If it\u2019s a two-man race, why the hell is DeSanctimonious spending money and resources attacking Nikki \u2018Birdbrain\u2019 Haley?\u2019 Trump spokesman Steven Cheung told Fox News Digital in a text message. \u2018He knows she\u2019s overtaken him in polls, and he is falling like a wounded bird out of the sky,\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n
In the wake of yesterday\u2019s endorsement by Republican Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, the DeSantis presidential campaign is once again trying to frame the Florida governor as the only viable alternative to Trump in the GOP presidential primary.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Simply put, without Ron DeSantis in this primary, Trump is the Republican nominee,\u2019 the DeSantis campaign argues in a new memo released Tuesday morning.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Nikki Haley and others are, at best, simply playing the role of spoiler \u2013 exponentially increasing the odds of a Trump nomination,\u2019 the memo states.<\/p>\n
The memo \u2013 first reported by The Associated Press \u2013 outlines DeSantis\u2019 underdog strategy to pull off a \u2018big win\u2019 in Iowa that would clear the 2024 Republican primary field. DeSantis has concentrated the vast majority of his campaign trail time and resources in Iowa the past couple of months and has so far made stops in 87 of the Hawkeye State\u2019s 99 counties.<\/p>\n
\u2018Everyone can universally agree that if Trump were to win big in Iowa it would create media and political momentum for his candidacy that would be difficult to stop heading into New Hampshire,\u2019 DeSantis campaign manager James Uthmeier, deputy manager David Polyansky and senior adviser Ryan Tyson wrote.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Additionally, a Trump loss or even a close battle in the Hawkeye State will reveal his political vulnerabilities and inspire Republican voters across the country who are either in the \u2018not for Trump\u2019 or \u2018consider Trump and others\u2019 camps,\u2019 the memo states.<\/p>\n
The Haley campaign did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In her own memo, Haley campaign manager Betsy Ankney on Monday described the Iowa contest as a \u2018dead heat\u2019 between DeSantis and Haley, while ignoring Trump\u2019s massive lead.<\/p>\n
\u2018The Iowa Caucuses are in just over two months. The New Hampshire primary is just 8 days after that. And Nikki Haley is the only candidate who is positioned to do well in both,\u2019 Ankney wrote, according to The Associated Press. \u2018EVEN IF DeSantis were to do well in Iowa, which is a big \u2018if\u2019 given his current decline, he is in such a weak position in New Hampshire and South Carolina that it doesn\u2019t matter. He has no end game.\u2019<\/p>\n
Trump remains the commanding frontrunner in the race for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination as he makes his third straight White House run. He saw his lead expand over his rivals during the spring and summer as he made history as the first former or current president in American history to be indicted for a crime. Trump\u2019s four indictments \u2013 including in federal court in Washington, D.C., and in Fulton County court in Georgia on charges he tried to overturn his 2020 presidential election loss \u2013 have only fueled his support among Republican voters.<\/p>\n
DESANTIS, HALEY SPAR OVER FLORIDA\u2019S OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING BAN: \u2018THAT\u2019S JUST WRONG\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n Although the DeSantis campaign wants to spin the race as a two-man contest, the reality on the ground is that Haley has leapfrogged DeSantis in\u00a0many of the latest polls in New Hampshire and South Carolina for second place. The latest major poll in Iowa \u2013 from the Des Moines Register\/NBC News released last week \u2013 indicated Haley moving into a second-place tie with DeSantis.<\/p>\n Seeking to capitalize on that momentum, the Haley campaign released a new ad Tuesday morning that attacks DeSantis over energy policy.\u00a0<\/p>\n The video serves as a potential preview for a Haley line of attack at tomorrow night\u2019s third GOP presidential primary debate.<\/p>\n The video begins with Haley \u2013 at the Fox Business debate at the Reagan Library in late September, charging that DeSantis is \u2018against fracking, against drilling\u2019 with DeSantis responding that the allegations are \u2018not true.\u2019<\/p>\n