Trump, the front-runner in the Republican race, recently assailed DeSantis' handling of the COVID pandemic, when DeSantis resisted federal mask and vaccine mandates. "Ron DeSantis is not a serious person who can take on Joe Biden and bring about the Great American Comeback," Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said in response to DeSantis' remarks. It was little surprise, then, that DeSantis held his initial Iowa event in the auditorium of an evangelical church. DeSantis was introduced by Iowa's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, and was joined by his wife, Casey DeSantis. The nascent DeSantis campaign has been buttressed by a well-funded Super PAC, Never Back Down, which has taken on many of the day-to-day responsibilities of a presidential effort.

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Persons: Ron Desantis, Scott Morgan CLIVE, Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump, DeSantis, bashed Trump, he's, Trump, denigrated DeSantis, Joe Biden, Steven Cheung, politicking, Ted Cruz, Kim Reynolds, Casey DeSantis, Reynolds, Todd Jacklin, James Oliphant, Leslie Adler, Simon Cameron, Moore Organizations: Florida, Republican U.S, REUTERS, Republican, Twitter, Trump, PAC, Liberty, DeSantis, Thomson Locations: West Des Moines , Iowa, U.S, Scott Morgan CLIVE , Iowa, Florida, Iowa, Des Moines, New Hampshire, South Carolina, The Iowa, Johnston , Iowa