Former President Donald Trump reiterated his criticism of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds’ endorsement of GOP presidential hopeful Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis during an address in Coralville on Wednesday evening. 

Trump’s criticism comes after the latest Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom Iowa Poll released Monday showed Trump gained a majority of Iowa Caucusgoers’ support. 

Reynolds announced her support for DeSantis’s presidency on Nov. 6 at an event in Des Moines. Reynolds announced her endorsement after previously vowing to remain neutral in the Iowa Caucuses. She has campaigned with DeSantis ever since. 

Trump denounced Reynolds on social media for choosing to support DeSantis instead of him when her November endorsement was leaked by news reports. 

Trump has since continued his criticism of Reynolds and the new Iowa poll shows it has not shaken up the race or boosted DeSantis’ support — which has only increased slightly to 19 percent since the October Iowa Poll. 

The poll also showed that the majority of caucusgoers said Reynolds’ endorsement did not sway their vote. The Iowa Poll found that only 31 percent of the poll’s 502 respondents said that Reynolds’ endorsement made them more likely to support DeSantis. 

Of the three major endorsements The Des Moines Register polled public opinion on, Reynolds had the highest likelihood of encouraging respondents to vote for the candidate endorsed. 

However, 54 percent of respondents said Reynolds’ endorsement did not matter to them. 

Iowa City resident Colleen Dwarm said she was disappointed when she heard of Reynolds’ endorsement of DeSantis. 

“I think some people were disappointed in what she had done because she had supported Trump before,” Dwarms said. 

Trump criticized Reynolds for supporting DeSantis during his event in the Hyatt Regency Hotel and Conference Center in Coralville on Wednesday evening. 

Trump previously endorsed Reynolds in 2018 and 2022 during both of her campaigns for Governor. Trump has credited himself for both of her substantial wins over Democrats in the state. 

During his address on Wednesday, he said that he excommunicated Reynolds after she announced she would remain neutral in the Iowa Caucuses early last year. 

“I said, ‘Don’t come around to any of our rallies — I don’t want you,’” Trump said. “And then she endorses somebody that has no chance of winning. [DeSantis] has no chance of winning, but she did that.” 

Trump said Reynolds’ recent bout of disapproval in Morning Consult polls of gubernatorial approval ratings is because she endorsed DeSantis. 

The poll Trump referenced in his Nov. 6 bash of Reynolds on Truth Social shows that Reynolds sports a 47 percent disapproval rating.

However, the December Iowa Poll showed that Reynolds retains 78 percent favorability among likely Republican caucusgoers. 

Trump touts big win in Iowa Poll

The Iowa poll showed large gains for the former President and put him in the majority, at 51 percent, for the first time. According to The Des Moines Register, no candidate has gained a majority of respondents’ Iowa caucus support in an Iowa Poll. 

The poll showed that DeSantis and Haley have massive ground to make up in Iowa if they are to scratch at Trump’s evergrowing lead. In the latest Iowa Poll, DeSantis came in second, 37 points behind Trump, at 19 percent among respondents to the poll while Haley came in third with 16 percent of respondents. Haley made no vertical movement in the poll among respondents’ first-choice candidates. 

Trump shouts out Iowa Hawkeye’s Punter Tory Taylor

Iowa Hawkeyes All-American punter Tory Taylor, who recently won the Ray Guy award, was in attendance at Trump’s rally on Wednesday night and received accolades from the former President during his speech. 

“We have this beautiful big strong physical specimen,” Trump said. “I never knew they made punters this big. But he’s a big guy, All-American, No. 1 in the country… He’s going to make a lot of money, I wanna be his agent.”

What caucusgoers are saying  

Jeff Himton, of Tampico, Illinois, said the drive to see Trump speak in Coralville was more than worth it. Himton said he thought the election was stolen from Trump. 

There is no proof that the election was stolen, according to the Associated Press, and the former President now faces several legal inquiries regarding his role in interfering with the certification of the 2020 election results. 

View more from the event and hear what Trump’s supporters are saying:

“We drove an hour and a half to support President Trump and his reelection to help save our country and get everything back on the path,” Himton said. “We need great American jobs, a secure border, supporting America, and doing the best for everyone.” 

Fern Bontrager, of Wellman, Iowa, said she resonates with Trump because of his work for “the common man” and his status as a non-politician. 

“We need him back badly,” Bontrager said. “He just did so much for this nation and he’s taking the brunt of the blow for all of us.” 

Bontrager referred to the four criminal indictments Trump faces in district courts in Washington, D.C., Georgia, Florida, and New York. Two of his indictments are directly related to his attempted interference with the results of the 2020 election.  

Talen Thierer, of Peoria, Illinois, said he hopes Trump will fix the Southern border. Thierer said that on top of that, he hopes Trump will decrease U.S. funding support for Ukraine. 

Currently, Congress is discussing another foreign aid package to Ukraine and Israel, among other foreign aid. 

“I feel like we shouldn’t be funding Ukraine when our country is going downhill,” Thierer said. “We aren’t even protecting our border.” 

Dwarm said while she can see the appeal of former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis she thinks Trump would be more effective. 

“I think they have a lot of what Trump believes in, but he is a stronger force,” Dwarms said. “I think he’d be good at working with people in other countries and being a stronger, more focused leader.”