DeSantis insists a defeated Trump would call primary 'stolen no matter what'

Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday insisted that former President Donald Trump, should he lose either the Iowa Caucus or the New Hampshire primary, would regard the results as illegitimate.

"If Trump loses, he will say it’s stolen no matter what, absolutely. He will try to delegitimize the results," DeSantis said, according to Mediaite. "He did that against Ted Cruz in 2016, and he will do that. I mean, even when like The Apprentice didn’t get an Emmy, he said. So I think I don’t think there’s been a single time he’s ever been in competition for something where he didn’t get it, where he’s accepted. I don’t think he will do that."

Trump lost the Iowa Caucus to Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in 2016, but went on to win the GOP nomination, nonetheless. Trump explicitly acknowledged his second-place finish and congratulated Cruz on his win the night of the Caucus. The following day, however, he claimed on Twitter that "Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he illegally stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong any [sic] why he got more votes than anticipated. Bad!"

He later deleted the Tweet and reposted it without the term "illegally."

It appears unlikely that DeSantis would face a similar situation, however, as poling data shows Trump ahead of the Florida governor ahead by an average 30.7% in the Hawkeye State, according to RealClearPolitics.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter.