Ron DeSantis zings Donald Trump for skipping Iowa events

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has taken aim squarely at Donald Trump, with the former president set to miss a major forum in Iowa Friday and dangling the prospect of playing hooky from next month’s first debate.

“Nobody is entitled to this nomination,” DeSantis told conservative Boston radio host Howie Carr Wednesday. “You have got to earn the nomination and doing things like the Family Leader event in Iowa, doing things like these debates, they’re important parts of the process.”

Trump has been noncommittal about attending the first Republican showdown, hosted by Fox News and slated for Aug. 23 in Milwaukee.

Earlier this week, organizers of a key Des Moines cattle call — the Family Leadership Summit — revealed that the former president won’t attend that event.

Instead, the 77-year-old will headline an event with Turning Point USA near his home in Florida.

“The American people deserve to hear from us directly about our vision for the country, and about how we’re going to be able to defeat Joe Biden,” DeSantis told Carr.

“We had the Biden-Trump [showdown] in 2020 and Biden’s president. The idea that he’s just entitled after that doesn’t make any sense.”

DeSantis further sharpened his critique of his former ally, calling out Trump’s third consecutive White House bid as lacking in fresh ideas.

“His campaign is basically doing two things: one, promising things like draining the swamp and building the wall that he promised in 2016 and didn’t deliver. And then two, these new ideas like building 20 cities and having school principals be elected by the parents — have the federal government do that. Those are not good ideas,” the governor said.

The Trump campaign fired back at DeSantis Thursday, saying the 44-year-old is lashing out in the face of a severe polling deficit.

“DeSantis should focus on his own flailing campaign rife with internal conflict and subversion among his closest supporters, instead of throwing a temper tantrum because he is losing so badly,” Trump 2024 spokesperson Steven Cheung told The Post.

“Nobody wants to be associated with his dumpster fire of a campaign and this reeks of desperation because they know they are on life support. President Trump has traveled to Iowa more times than DeSantis has, and holds a commanding lead because voters know he is the only person who can beat Joe Biden and take the White House back.”

Trump has cited his enormous lead over the crowded GOP pack as justification to skip the debate. He has a 32.4-point edge over DeSantis, his nearest foe, in the latest RealClearPolitics average.

“At the moment, President Trump has indicated that he’s unlikely to participate, at least in the first two debates. He’s up by 30, 40, and even new polling shows he’s up by almost 50% in certain places,” Jason Miller, a longtime Trump adviser, said in an interview with NewsNation Tuesday. 

Some Republican observers have floated a kumbaya between the two GOP heavyweights, but DeSantis poured cold water on the prospect of being Trump’s running mate.

“I don’t think so,” DeSantis told “Wisconsin Right Now” radio during a recent interview. “I’m not a number two guy. I think I’m a leader.”

“[As] governor of Florida, I’ve been able to accomplish a lot,” he said. “I think I could probably do more staying there than being VP, which doesn’t really have any authority.”