Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sought to stake out clear differences with former President Donald Trump in a CNN town hall Thursday night, telling Iowa voters they’re “not going to have to worry about my conduct.”
A week and a half from the Iowa caucuses, DeSantis fielded questions in the town hall moderated by CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, another leading 2024 Republican presidential primary contender, is also appearing at a CNN town hall Thursday night.
DeSantis staked out some new policy ground, saying he supports a “flat tax” — a single national income tax rate, with no deductions or exemptions — and would abolish the Internal Revenue Service.
He largely dropped the references to culture wars that marked the early months of his presidential campaign.
And he told voters he’d represent a departure from the drama of Trump’s presidency and his time as the GOP standard-bearer.
“If you nominate me, I’ll get elected, I’ll serve, and we won’t even be discussing these issues. We’ll be discussing your issues,” DeSantis said.
“You’re not going to have to worry about my conduct. I’ll conduct myself in a way you can be proud of,” he said. “I’ll conduct myself in a way you can tell your kid, you know, that’s somebody you should emulate.”
Here are three takeaways from the DeSantis town hall:
The DeSantis that showed up Thursday night for the town hall was not the same DeSantis from earlier in the 2024 Republican primary. He started out by giving Collins a basketball jersey. He used folksy language like “willy nilly” and “appreciate ya.” He didn’t immediately delve into social issues that he likes to talk about, like transgender healthcare bans or abortion. And the Florida governor argued that while Trump was running on issues important only to…
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