DeSantis to attend Iowa senator’s ‘Roast and Ride’ event

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) will join other announced and potential Republican presidential candidates at Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst’s (R) annual Roast and Ride in Des Moines on Saturday. 

“I’m so excited to announce that Florida Governor [Ron DeSantis] will be a special guest at my 2023 Roast and Ride!” Ernst said in a tweet Tuesday. “He’s not afraid to take on the woke left, and you won’t want to miss what he has to say on June 3rd!” 

DeSantis will join a number of GOP hopefuls, including former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. Former Vice President Mike Pence, who has yet to announce whether he will run in 2024, will also be in attendance. Former President Trump, who is the clear front-runner in the growing GOP primary field, has not confirmed whether he will attend the gathering. 

DeSantis launched his campaign last week and is headed to Iowa this week.

The Florida governor will campaign Tuesday at Eternity Church in Clive, Iowa, in a bid to appeal to the state’s Evangelical voters. On Wednesday, he will make stops in Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Pella and Cedar Rapids. 

“We are competing everywhere. Iowa is very important. We’ve gotten an incredible amount of support. I got endorsed by 37 legislators there before I even announced my candidacy,” DeSantis said in a Monday interview on Fox News. “We obviously have a lot in common with Iowa in terms of what Florida has done and what they’ve done under Gov. Kim Reynolds. And I think the groundswell of support has been really, really strong. We’re going to press the case.”