Campaign season is in full swing in Iowa, and while former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley is making unforced errors left and right, a key senator from her home state is on the trail stumping for Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.)
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Sen. Josh Kimbrell (R-11th District) represents a district near Spartanburg in upstate South Carolina. He has been traversing the Hawkeye State over the past couple of days with the DeSantis campaign, including a speaking engagement at Friday’s Stop the Swamp rally in Davenport, Iowa.
Just landed in Iowa for my friend @RonDeSantis. As I conservative, I know leadership when I see it, and DeSantis is it. pic.twitter.com/gH6bidGeK7
— Sen. Josh Kimbrell (@JoshKimbrellSC) December 28, 2023
Kimbrell took a few minutes out of his busy schedule to speak with PJ Media about why he’s campaigning with DeSantis and why he believes the governor is the best man for the White House in 2024.
“I’ve always believed that if we’re going to win, we have to be full-spectrum conservatives,” Kimbrell said. “You need somebody who can be fiscally conservative, socially conservative, and strong on national security.”
Kimbrell pointed out how DeSantis has especially taken the lead on cultural issues and taking on woke corporations.
“The social issues these days are still defending life, but also parental rights has become a front center issue now — defending the innocence of our kids,” he said. “And there’s been nobody on the national stage has done more to defend the innocence of kids or protect basic common sense when it comes to these kinds of values to Gov. DeSantis of Florida. And when you have this woke agenda, perpetrated in part by these mega-corporations that have just bought hook, line, and sinker this leftist worldview, you’ve gotta have somebody is willing to stand up to that and Gov. DeSantis has.”
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Kimbrell contrasted DeSantis’ willingness to take on big corporations to the actions of his state’s former governor, Nikki Haley.
“You’ve got former governor Haley running around hanging out with Blackrock executives and Jamie Dimon,” he pointed out. “Jamie Dimon and BlackRock are not on the side of conservatives. These are folks who are totally on board with the ESG agenda, shutting down free speech and debate. They tried to muzzle people for their beliefs, particularly if they have traditional values. And that terrifies me, but you’ve got to have somebody who’s willing to push back against that big-government-big-business unholy alliance that I think is hurting the country.”
Related: The Morning Briefing: Nikki Haley Continues to Sabotage Herself
Speaking of Haley, Kimbrell said that the former Palmetto State governor’s attempts to establish her conservative bona fides on the campaign trail have been disingenuous.
“Gov. Haley, my former governor, is running around trying to act like she’s a conservative alternative to Donald Trump,” he said. “And it’s not personal. It’s not about — I mean, I don’t dislike Nikki as an individual. But her record is governor — I mean, I’ve been involved in South Carolina politics since I was in college, and I’ve worked with numerous South Carolina governors and worked in them and a member of the Senate now. I’ve I just think that that narrative is wrong.”
“And Gov. DeSantis is far more consistent as a conservative who has been able to have a far more effective legislative agenda that’s been able to make real change,” he added. “And I think he’s the choice, so I’m here to make that case. My state is a red state, and we become redder in the last four years even. But that’s really not because of the governorship of Nikki Haley.”
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Kimbrell sees tremendous similarities between Iowa voters and voters in South Carolina and other Southern states.
“Iowa caucusgoers in my view are a lot like South Carolina Republican primary voters,” he said. “They care about that full spectrum I just described in terms of values. But what I’m hearing on the ground here is that people are deeply worried about their financial future. They are deeply worried about the inflation situation. You’ve got an administration in Washington right now that is completely in bed with that woke agenda that wants to basically pay farmers not to raise cattle anymore. They want to shut down the fossil fuel industry. They want to have everybody riding electric cars and have the semi trucks turned to electric vehicles that will devastate the Iowa economy. They’re deeply worried about it. And you’ve gotta have somebody who’s willing to stand up to that woke corporate agenda and the woke leftist agenda and they resonate with Governor DeSantis his willingness to take that on.”
Related: What Nikki Haley Missed in Her Answer to the Civil War Question
Kimbrell views Iowa as an opportunity for DeSantis to surge. He said that “if you take a deep dive and most of the polling that’s out there — right now, that’s Quinnipiac, or anybody else — one thing is consistently true. Because for the Trump voter, Ron DeSantis is their second choice. In other words, if we had ranked choice voting here, DeSantis would be their number two on everything. And so the Trump voters do not gravitate toward Nikki Haley, Chris Christie, or even Vivek Ramaswamy; they’re going to gravitate to DeSantis. So these the Trump voters are not anti-DeSantis.”
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“There’s a certain sympathy and I think a social desirability bias that people have for the former President right now because of all the indictments and all that, but the Iowa caucus, of course, is different than just an open primary,” he added. “These folks have to get in the car, go to a polling place, vote for their candidate, and when that happens, I think that the ground game that the DeSantis campaign has put together here is fantastic. And I believe they’re going to surprise people. I think he’s going to win here. And when he does, I think a lot of people who are kind of on the fence between Trump and DeSantis at that point will gravitate toward DeSantis. I think this is a game-changer. Truly.”
And Kimbrell isn’t alone in that thought. On Friday, Erick Erickson wrote that an Iowa win for DeSantis, “particularly given the polling, would shake up the race.” Erickson added that “Iowa could give DeSantis real momentum.”
Kimbrell also believes that DeSantis is in a unique position to take on Joe Biden, citing his record as governor of the Sunshine State as proof.
“Florida was a purple state in 2018,” he recalled. “It’s a deeply red state now, and DeSantis still had to fight against the media establishment and the leftist ideology there. So I don’t think anybody’s better positioned to take on the Biden administration or take on the corporate media. DeSantis has been through the crucible the entire time he’s been governor, and I think that’s really important.”
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Kimbrell continued by making another comparison between the media’s treatment of DeSantis and Haley.
“I mean, you look even right now, Gov. Haley is kind of having a hard time with the national scrutiny because she’s been largely given a pass,” he said. “Gov. DeSantis has had the daylights beat out of him since day one because he’s been willing to stand up and challenge the status quo. And I think that’s why you’re seeing he’s the seasoned guy who’s not making the missteps on the campaign trail because he’s used to it.”
In Iowa, the enthusiastic crowds that continue to show up on snowy days encourage Kimbrell, and as he looks at the landscape for 2024, he believes that the GOP has reason to be optimistic.
“We’re gonna win if we get the right candidate,” he said. “I mean, right now, I’m excited because Ron DeSantis has a very viable path to being the nominee of the party. If he’s the nominee, we’re gonna crush the Democrats in November. And I think you’re gonna have an increased House majority and potentially take over the Senate, and I think that can save the country.”
Kimbrell echoes the urgency that many conservatives have about this upcoming election.
“We have really one chance to save the nation,” he said. “I know, I know. People said that every time. I know you constantly hear that this is the most important election of our lifetime, but in all honesty, I don’t think most people realize that in the last three years, the country could deteriorate so much. I mean, we’ve seen cracks in the armor of America that we didn’t think were possible this rapidly. I’m concerned about what happens if we don’t win next year, but I’m optimistic that it’s going to be a wave here — truly a wave here if we get the right nominee.”
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