Trump snub: Why former president is set to ignore key GOP leadership group
January 04, 2024 02:36 PM
Former President Donald Trump is dominating polls in Iowa ahead of the caucuses with no help from Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) or the Republican Governors Association, with allies of the Republican primary front-runner saying he will not work with the group over the Iowa governor’s lack of support.
Trump plans to avoid working with the RGA during the 2024 election cycle because Reynolds endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) in the GOP primary, according to the New York Times. The move could cost Trump in key states where Republican gubernatorial elections are strong indicators of political support for presidential candidates.
The relationship between Trump and Reynolds has soured over the last year, beginning when the governor said she would remain neutral in the Iowa caucuses — a first-in-the-nation nominating contest that historically alters the trajectory of the presidential race. In August, Trump took credit for Reynolds’s success, stating, “I got her elected. I endorsed her,” which she has since pushed back against.
Things became even more tense after Reynolds decided to endorse DeSantis on Nov. 7, causing severe backlash from Trump and his allies. The former president went so far as to release a video dismissing the importance of an endorsement from “the most unpopular governor in the entire United States of America.”
Reynolds has since defended her choice of DeSantis, frequently calling him an effective leader and arguing that the Republican Party needs “someone who can win.”
The Iowa governor was the former leader of the Republican Governors Association, which funnels millions into gubernatorial campaigns and is a key GOP ally in presidential candidates. Gov. Bill Lee (R-TN), who became the new RGA chairman on Dec. 7, recently told Politico that he has a “responsibility not to endorse” a president in the 2024 election because of his responsibility to “stay very focused on getting governors elected.
He noted Reynolds’s endorsement of DeSantis in his interview, attributing it to her being “on her way out as chairman” and her track record of not endorsing.
Most recently, the RGA threw heavy support behind former Republican Attorney General Daniel Cameron in his governor’s campaign against Gov. Andy Beshear (R-KY). Cameron touted his connection to Trump during the GOP primary but mostly avoided tying his campaign to the former president during the general election. He released an ad in October, shortly before the general election, pushing his endorsement from Trump.
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Without the RGA, however, Trump is doing well among supporters and endorsements. He has the support of the Republican Party’s House and Senate campaign committee chairmen, as well as endorsements from nearly 100 members of the House and 19 endorsements from Senate Republicans.
Among Republican governors, Trump has endorsements from seven: Govs. Greg Abbott (R-TX), Mike Dunleavy (R-AL), Jim Justice (R-WV), Henry McMaster (R-SC), Kristi Noem (R-SD), Tate Reeves (R-MS), and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR).