DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican candidates wooing Iowa caucus voters have refined their closing arguments against former President Donald Trump: He failed to deliver on all of his promises, and he won’t beat President Joe Biden.

For much of the campaign season, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL), former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy avoided criticizing Trump directly while on the stump, excluding questions from voters during their events. However, in the final days before the first voters in the country make their voices heard, the strategy has shifted. DeSantis and Haley are battling for second place after recent polling suggests the two are far behind Trump. 

DeSantis, who has invested heavily in the Hawkeye State, has been highlighting policy differences between himself and the former president. At a campaign event at a sports bar in Grimes on Sunday, DeSantis vowed to defund the United Nations, a stance that resonates with some conservatives. 

“That’s a contrast in this race because Trump funded it gladly all four years. And Haley was in the United Nations,” he said to voters gathered there.

DeSantis also slammed Trump for not following through with his campaign promises while he was in the White House.

“The former president is running on saying that he’s going to do an executive order on birthright citizenship,” DeSantis said Sunday. “He ran in 2016, saying the exact same thing; all he had to do was sign an executive order. It would have taken 30 seconds.”

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. He had a chance to do it; he didn’t get the job done,” he said to applause from voters.

DeSantis attempted to appeal to undecided voters who still are considering Trump during a Fox News town hall in Des Moines on Tuesday, raising concerns about the former president’s electability in a general election.

“It raises the issue for Republicans: ‘What do we want the 2024 election to be about?’” DeSantis said during the town hall. “If Donald Trump is the nominee, the election is going to be about legal issues, criminal trials, Jan. 6. It’ll be a referendum on him.”

DeSantis also took a jab at Trump, suggesting the former president could resort to dirty tricks the night of the caucuses in response to a comment from Iowa voter Rob Corry, who urged him to stay in the race past the Iowa caucuses, which will take place Jan. 15.

“There are always these things they try to do on the caucuses and try to plant this rumor and all of that stuff. I think Iowans know that’s just typical scuttlebutt; Trump will do whatever he can. On caucus night, they will try to make something up,” DeSantis said.

For some voters, the message is resonating. Jodi McGonigle, a voter from Ames, said she was planning to caucus for Trump until she ultimately decided to back DeSantis at the last minute after he answered her question during a campaign stop at the Associated General Contractors of Iowa conference on Wednesday.

“I thought he had good answers to my question, and I told him that when I shook his hand at the end,” McGonigle said. “I voted for Trump before, and I was planning to go to our location in Ames and caucus for him, but I changed my mind. I’ll be caucusing for DeSantis.” 

Haley has been more direct in her criticism of the former president. Speaking to crowds across the state, the former South Carolina governor said “chaos follows” Trump, a line she’s been repeating for the last month.

“Chaos follows him. We can’t have a country in disarray and a world on fire and go through four more years of chaos. We won’t survive it. You don’t fix Democrat chaos with Republican chaos,” Haley said to voters in Bettendorf on Saturday. 

She later added that Trump “broke” many things in Washington during his time in office, but he “just wasn’t good at fixing them.”

Haley continues to lean into her appeal to the political middle to make the point that she would be the most electable in a general election against Biden, highlighting polling that shows her leading Biden in a hypothetical matchup by double digits.  

“If we go into a general election, Ron doesn’t defeat Biden. Trump is head to head with Biden. On a good day, he is up by 2 — the Wall Street Journal had him up by 4 points; that’s in the margin of error,” Haley said. “I’m up in every one of those polls. I defeat Joe Biden by 17 points,” she added as voters applauded. 

Ramaswamy has only recently begun sharpening his attacks against the former president, calling him too “wounded” to win a general election.

“When we rally behind the pride of Make America Great Again, we did not just hunger for a single man, we hunger for the unapologetic pursuit of excellence in this country,” Ramaswamy said, speaking Saturday afternoon at a Cedar County town hall.

“I respect the heck out of [Trump]; he was the right guy in 2016, and I respect the heck out of what he did for this country, but if you think they are going to let him get anywhere near that White House again, I’m going to ask you to open your eyes and not fall into that trap,” he said, alluding to the numerous investigations into the former president and the 14th Amendment challenges to his ballot access in some states.

“If you want a general in this war, pick a general with fresh legs that is not yet wounded in that war,” Ramaswamy added.

While some voters here believe Iowa will be a coronation for former Trump, others say there’s time for someone else to break through in the final days.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER 

“I’m definitely a Trump fan, but I’m tired of all the drama. So, I’m thinking maybe Ramaswamy,” said Tracy Harmeyer, a voter in Bettendorf. “I’m starting to think caucusing for Trump would be a waste of time because they aren’t going to let him get anywhere near the White House; I honestly believe that.”

“I think my vote would be better suited elsewhere,” she added.