DeSantis supporters 'very disappointed' following Trump’s Iowa victory: 'Sheep are sticking together'

Supporters of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were hoping that the 2024 Iowa Caucuses would revitalize his troubled presidential campaign, but former President Donald Trump's landslide Iowa victory on Monday, January 15 gave DeSantis little reason for optimism.

Trump defeated the Florida governor by 30 percent in Iowa, where he received more votes than DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy combined. Ramaswamy has dropped out of the race and endorsed Trump.

In a report published by the conservative National Review on January 16, reporter Audrey Fahlberg describes the disappointment that DeSantis' supporters were expressing in Iowa after the results came in.

POLL: Should Trump be allowed to hold office again?

Alice Rekeweg, a DeSantis supporter from Houston, told the National Review she was "very disappointed," adding, "I love that man, but I guess all the sheep are sticking together."

Pensacola, Florida resident Gene Church, won supported Trump in 2016 and 2020 but is supporting DeSantis in 2024, believes that if Trump is the GOP nominee, Democrats won't let voters forget that he is facing four criminal indictments.

Church told the Review, "Democrats will ask every Republican down ballot: 'How do you feel about having a convicted felon at the top of the ticket?' And they'll run ads saying about how Republicans are the party of criminals, and we will lose the down-ballot races as a result of this — and we will lose the presidency."

Des Moines resident Gary Updegraff, another DeSantis supporter, now considers Trump's nomination a "foregone conclusion."

READ MORE: Iowa was the beginning of the end for GOP candidates 'not named Donald Trump'

Updegraff told the National Review, "If (DeSantis) stays in this race too long, I think he could ruin his political career."

READ MORE: Analysis of judge's 'brutal order' shows how 'punishing' E. Jean Carroll trial will be for Trump

Read the National Review's full report at this link.