Some South Carolina voters ready to support DeSantis, despite acknowledging Trump's lead in state

Ron DeSantis on Saturday aimed to frame his presidential campaign as one that can best both GOP front-runner Donald Trump and former Gov. Nikki Haley in South Carolina — whose pivotal primary has historically been influential in determining the eventual nominee — although some attendees at one of his three events said they felt the state's votes were likely to go to Trump next month, no matter what happens.

“I love his message, said David Steding, as he and his wife waited for the Florida governor. “I just don't think he's going to win here."

The Stedings were among hundreds waiting to see DeSantis take the stage at a restaurant just off one of the main thoroughfares of the coastal tourist mecca of Myrtle Beach, a road littered with attractions like miniature golf courses, wax museums and water parks. It was the first of DeSantis’ three-stop swing through South Carolina that reflects his decision to shift his presidential campaign away from New Hampshire just ahead of the state’s first-in-the-nation Republican primary, in which it’s not expected that he will perform as strongly as in Iowa.

Trump won Monday’s caucuses with just more than a majority of votes cast, while DeSantis and Haley had been duking it out for a distant second place.

The night after eking out that second-place finish, DeSantis flew straight to South Carolina, as Haley and others shifted their efforts to New Hampshire, where Republicans vote Feb. 24.

DeSantis has been stumping in New Hampshire but has reportedly reallocated the majority of his staff to South Carolina, Haley’s home state. The pro-DeSantis super PAC Never Back Down has transferred several of its Iowa staffers to other early states, while laying off the rest.

On Saturday, DeSantis