After second place finish in Iowa's caucuses, DeSantis sets sights on South Carolina

GREENVILLE, S.C. — The skies above the airplane hangar where Ron DeSantis spoke to a packed crowd in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday morning were muted and gray, but the Florida governor spoke with rays of optimism after his performance in the 2024 Iowa Caucus the night before.

Presidential contenders usually trek straight to New Hampshire, the next state on the nominating calendar, but DeSantis' stop in the Palmetto State was a targeted message to rival Nikki Haley, South Carolina's former governor who finished just behind DeSantis in Monday's contest. The overt part of that message is that he plans to compete — and win — on her home turf.

"This is an important state," DeSantis told reporters after delivering a stump speech and answering questions from voters who braved the cold to hear his message about "woke ideology" in the military, mass firing of federal government employees and other plans for if he becomes president.

"Nikki Haley, this is her home state, if she can't win this then I don't see how she could say she's gonna win on Super Tuesday or those other states," he added.

The subtext delivered throughout his remarks is that DeSantis views himself as the only viable candidate to take on former President Donald Trump who handily won in Iowa with just over 50% of the vote, enjoys leads in virtually every state-level and national primary poll and earned more delegates than DeSantis and Haley combined.

"Half the people wanted somebody else," DeSantis argued.

In South Carolina, DeSantis attacked Haley as "liberal," said she had no major achievements while serving as governor and argued her support in the presidential race doesn't come from conservatives.

"Her fundamental problem is that she does not have support amongst