JOHNSTON, Iowa
CNN
—
In a packed barn with more than 100 attendees, Florida’s first lady Casey DeSantis got the crowd laughing as she recalled bringing her 5-year-old daughter with her to an event last year. year.
“All of a sudden, who comes back on stage is Madison DeSantis, right? And you’re wondering what in the world is going on? And I start getting this tug-tug-tug-tug on my shirtsleeve. Right? You know Do you know what he needs? He needs to go to the bathroom, yes,” she said Thursday.
DeSantis introduced himself, speaking quickly to highlight his former life as a famous Florida news anchor. While this is her first solo campaign appearance while her husband, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, seeking the Republican presidential nomination, Casey DeSantis is no stranger to the trail.
She became a pillar of her husband’s political career – amplifying his core message and combative rhetoric. In a crowded 2024 primary field, where former President Donald Trump is leading, Casey DeSantis is seen by many in the Florida governor’s orbit as a strong asset, emphasizing the importance of marriage and family. In contrast, former first lady Melania Trump and several of Trump’s children were largely absent from his campaign appearances.
Casey DeSantis chose the key early voting state of Iowa to officially launch her national initiative, “Mamas for DeSantis,” which aims to mobilize mothers to support her husband’s presidential bid. “We will launch the largest mobilization of mothers and grandmothers in the entire United States of America to protect the innocence of our children and to protect the rights of parents,” he said. A source familiar with the matter said that Casey DeSantis not only narrated the video announcing the initiative, he also wrote the script.
Shellie Flockhart, vice chairwoman of the Moms for Liberty chapter in Dallas County, Iowa, said she was torn between DeSantis and Trump, but was drawn to the Florida governor’s family values.
“The parts that I think DeSantis is really strong in are his family unit, his wife, Casey, who he’s very respectful of. And he just loves her, you know. That’s very impressive and always he’s on the campaign trail with her,” she told CNN in Philadelphia last week at the Moms for Liberty national summit.
“That says a lot about what his wife is thinking,” Flockhart added.
The Florida first lady often accompanies her husband on his campaign stops, recently walking with him in two July Fourth parades in New Hampshire with their children. Drenched in the rain at the Merrimack parade, Casey DeSantis walked down the street with his youngest daughter Mamie on his back at one point. After the official launch of his campaign, in changes in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina in early June, Gov. DeSantis took his wife’s mic to give his own remarks in between his speeches.
At an appearance in Bluffton, South Carolina, Casey DeSantis, a College of Charleston alumna, said she likes how her husband “isn’t afraid to take the hits.” Someone honked at one point during what he said for a few seconds driving into the parking lot. “If that horn is the answer, to him, I tell you he’s not backing down,” Casey DeSantis said.
The couple shared a stage at a campaign stop in Iowa and brought their children with them to Republican Sen.’s “Roast and Ride” event. Joni Ernst of Des Moines. The DeSantis campaign included Casey DeSantis in campaign event promotions.
As a local TV journalist in Florida, Casey DeSantis is telegenic, media-savvy and charismatic. She advises her husband, a former congressman recently elected to his second term as governor, on his media strategy.
After Politico magazine published an article in May about his wife – “The Problem of Casey DeSantis: ‘His biggest asset and his biggest liability.’ – the governor, who has not yet announced his presidential candidacy, stood up for their relationship.
“Some people even criticize me, because my wife and I have a good relationship, that we understand each other, and we trust each other. Think about that,” said Gov. DeSantis at the Florida Family Policy Council in Orlando. “We understand how important the family is. We understand how important it is that parents in the state are able to raise children in a healthy environment. around.”
Throughout her event Thursday in Iowa, Casey DeSantis captivated the audience as she spoke about matters both personal and political — her family, her diagnosis with breast cancer and her husband’s initiatives and policies in Florida.
“As long as I have breath in my body, I will go out and fight for Ron DeSantis. Not because he’s my husband, that’s about it. But because I believed in him with every ounce of my being,” said Casey DeSantis.
“If you want someone to go to Washington, DC, to clean house, to get this country back on track where we’re talking about our rights that come from our creator, and our government was put in place to protect our rights that are ours, he is the person who will do it,” he added.
“And if I have to criss-cross this country, I will.”
