Former President Donald Trump used his Friday campaign stop in Iowa to call Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, his main rival for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, a "globalist sellout."
Trump told a packed Mid-American Center in Council Bluffs, which lies on the Nebraska border, that Iowa farmers would suffer should DeSantis win the GOP nomination and become president.
"He would be a catastrophe for farmers of Nebraska and Iowa and anyplace else," Trump said. "DeSanctus, as I call him, the abbreviation [for DeSanctimonious], is a globalist sellout, a Paul Ryan and Karl Rove acolyte who is in the pocket of Wall Street donors at the Club for No Growth."
Trump was referring to the Club for Growth, a conservative political organization that has been at odds with the former president since the 2022 midterm elections but has warmer relations with DeSantis.
"You know what I call them also: the Club for China Growth," Trump said. "They don't like me too much. They would outsource every American farming job to a foreign country. This is what Ron DeSanctimonious wants to do. It would be a horrendous situation for this state and neighboring states."
The former president tore into DeSantis' opposition to ethanol fuel, which is primarily made from corn, an Iowa agricultural staple. As a congressman in 2017, DeSantis co-sponsored the Renewable Fuel Standard Elimination Act, which would have eliminated the Clean Air Act provisions requiring the use of ethanol in gasoline for cars and trucks. The legislation never made it to a vote on the House floor.
"He has been fighting for years — don't forget he was a congressman — to kill every single job supported by this very important industry," Trump said. "Ending the renewable fuel standard was one of his top priorities as a member of Congress. If he had his way, the entire economy of Iowa would absolutely collapse.
"DeSanctus slandered the ethanol mandate as 'socialism' and called his vicious plan to annihilate the Iowa farming industry as a total no-brainer."
Trump said DeSantis opposed tariffs on Chinese goods, which he said resulted in a $28 billion windfall for American farmers.
"DeSanctus sided with the communists in China; I sided with the farmers in America," Trump said.
Newsmax reached out to the DeSantis campaign for comment.
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