Who can stop Trump? Republican candidates face growing pressure in Iowa
Global News
The urgency is particularly acute for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who entered the race in May with expectations that he would quickly become Trump's top rival.
As the six-month sprint to the Iowa caucuses begins, the sprawling field of Republican presidential candidates is facing growing pressure to prove they can become serious challengers to former President Donald Trump.
The urgency is particularly acute for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who entered the race in May with expectations that he would quickly become Trump’s top rival. For now, however, he has struggled to generate the enthusiasm that Trump commands from the GOP base, leaving it uncertain he will become the threat to the former president that he was once billed to be.
“That’s what DeSantis wanted to be. It’s possible he may be that still,” said Gentry Collins, a seasoned Iowa and national Republican strategist who ran Mitt Romney’s 2008 caucus campaign. “But it sure doesn’t look like that to me — it’s become clear that there isn’t room for another alternative to Trump.”
DeSantis was among six White House hopefuls in Iowa on Friday for the Family Leadership Summit, where an audience of close to 2,000 conservative Christians gathered to see former Fox News host Tucker Carlson interview the candidates individually. Trump did not attend, though he has swung through the state multiple times in recent weeks and will return Tuesday.
DeSantis and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy received the most raucous cheers from the packed hall in the downtown Des Moines events center, notably when they argued for a more limited U.S. military role backing Ukraine.
“Europe needs to do more. This is their backyard,” DeSantis said to applause.
Yet it was Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, choosing the event to sign the recently passed six-week abortion ban, who received the loudest and most sustained standing ovation when she took the stage. She is publicly neutral in the race but has been slammed by Trump for appearing with DeSantis at campaign events in the state, though she also has appeared with other candidates.
There’s still time for any of the contenders to mount a more robust challenge to Trump — but not a lot. Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucuses are scheduled for Jan. 15.
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