(CBrief) – Gov. Ron DeSantis has name-dropped a potential running mate should he manage to capture the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. After touting her during his candidate forum with Tucker Carlson on Friday, DeSantis said Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds is on his short list of VP picks.

“Governor, you have spent a lot of time with Governor Reynolds, you defended her after President Trump’s recent statements,” a reporter said to DeSantis at an event on Saturday after the Friday event, which was also held in Iowa. “Would you consider her as a potential vice presidential pick in this campaign?”

“Of course,” DeSantis said in response. “I mean, she’s one of the top public servants in America, I thought the attacks on her were totally, totally out of hand and totally unnecessary.”

“We should be thanking good Republican officeholders,” he continued. “You know, we kind of joke about the Iowa-Florida [competition], sometimes they do things before us, sometimes we do. But honestly, I want them to do better than us because it’s healthy. When Republicans are doing well, I like that, I don’t get jealous of that, I want to see them do well.”

“And so they’ve done a great job and I think she’s been a model public servant and anybody who’s a Republican that’s trying to denigrate her I think is way off base on that,” he concluded.

Standing beside DeSantis when he was making his remarks was Sen. Joni Ernst, an Iowa Republican who was nodding in agreement.

Former President Donald Trump’s continued rise in the polls is putting an extreme amount of pressure on DeSantis, who has consistently been in second place in 2024 GOP primary polling.

As noted by Reuters, the DeSantis camp is putting a great deal of effort into winning the very important state of Iowa in January “despite the former president’s commanding lead in polls and growing questions about DeSantis’ viability.”

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