Republican presidential candidate and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis revealed the fate of his campaign Monday if he places worse in the Iowa caucus than expected.
Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley moved into second place among Iowans in a Saturday poll, edging out DeSantis by 4 points. With DeSantis falling behind in the last survey before the Iowa caucus, some speculated what the governor’s fate could be if he did place third.
“You are not dropping out of this race tonight or tomorrow, no matter what? Fair?” an MSNBC reporter asked.
“No, we are going on. We’ve been built for the long haul. It is all about the accumulation of delegates.”
“Even if you come in third place tonight there is no chance your campaign is dropping out? Is that what you are saying?” the reporter followed up.
“We’re in it for the long haul. We’re going to do well. I know the media likes to do the speculation. I’m excited for the votes to come in because that will be the first real data point,” DeSantis responds before MSNC changes the segment.
Former President Donald Trump remains the clear front-runner ahead of the Iowa caucus with 48 percent of state voters saying that he is their first pick for president, according to the Des Moines Register/NBC News/MediaCom poll. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said they have decided who they are voting for while 25 percent are still open to being persuaded by the candidates.
Iowa is facing harsh winter weather, with temperatures hovering around 2 degrees on Monday. Sixty-two percent of DeSantis supporters said that they would “definitely” attend, despite the weather, the poll shows. DeSantis leads other candidates in that category with 56 percent of Trump supporters and 51 percent of Haley voters saying they would turn out for the caucus. (RELATED: Everything You Need To Know About The Iowa Caucuses)
The poll was conducted between Jan. 7-12 and surveyed 705 likely Republican caucusgoers with a margin of error of 3 percent.