It has come to light that CNN’s Jake Tapper sounded surprised that the former President Donald Trump was “actually telling the truth” about presidential rival Ron DeSantis during a campaign stop in Iowa Friday via MediaIte.
Trump highlighted DeSantis’ past position against ethanol subsidies, referring to Florida’s governor with the nickname, “DeSanctus”:
Very simply, DeSanctus sided with the communists in China; I sided with the farmers in America. Everyone in Iowa also needs to know that Ron DeSanctus totally despises Iowa, ethanol, and ethanol generally. He’s been fighting for years — don’t forget, he was a congressman — and he was voting against it and fighting against it for years to kill every job supported by this very important industry.
“Now, interestingly, he’s actually accurate — he’s actually telling the truth,” Tapper said. “We should note that Ron DeSantis actually did vote against ethanol. So, what do you think?” he asked CNN Correspondent Eva McKend.
“Well, I think this is actually smart politics. This actually makes a lot more sense than focusing on his personal grievances — talking about an issue that’s of deep importance to Iowans,” McKend said. “I texted a source there asking, you know, ‘What do you think of this? Is this pandering or is this an issue that really matters?’ and he says, ‘No, this is an issue that really matters,’ and he said that during the Trump administration, he had credibility on this issue. So, this makes a lot more sense than talking about the indictments — talking about things that people actually care about. In 2016, Trump lost Iowa to Ted Cruz. So, I think there is an understanding that he has to really compete there this time, whatever the polls say.”
“And we should note, though, that the ethanol attack, while effective, it’s not a silver bullet,” Tapper said. “Ted Cruz won Iowa last time, but Ted Cruz was against ethanol subsidies.”
“I think that if you look a little deeper, what you’re seeing is that Trump is not just talking about ethanol; he’s talking about, you know, these are politicians, typical politicians who are beholden…to other organizations that will not be there for Iowans or other people like Trump was,” said Cleve Wootson of The Washington Post.
