Governor Kim Reynolds Slams Trump for ‘Misleading’ Ad in Iowa

Republican Governor of Iowa Kim Reynolds says that former President Donald Trump is "misleading" Iowa voters ahead of the caucus with a campaign ad that shows her endorsing Trump.

"It’s misleading and it’s not fair to Iowans," the governor said Monday night in an interview with Fox News Digital.

The ad shows old clips of Reynolds voicing praise for Trump. Although Reynolds backed the former president in his 2016 and 2020 campaigns and took a neutral position at the beginning of the 2024 campaign cycle, she has endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president.

"He was upset with me because I was going to stay neutral at the beginning of the campaign for the first-in-the-nation caucus, which I did for seven months," Reynolds told Fox News and crowds in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Following her DeSantis endorsement, Trump dubbed Reynolds the "worst governor in the country," saying her endorsement "didn’t mean anything" and it was "worthless."

"That’s on one hand, and now we look at another hand – he’s using me in a commercial that dates back to 2016 and again [is] misleading Iowans as if I was endorsing him and going back and forth," the governor told Fox News. "In 2016 and 2020 I supported President Trump. I endorsed him. I helped him in the state of Iowa. It's a different day. It’s a different time."

When asked about Reynolds comment that Trump is "misleading" Iowans by showing them years-old clips of the Hawkeye State governor supporting the former president, Trump Spokesperson Steven Cheung asked Fox News,  "is she saying that she lied to voters all those years?"

The Republican Iowa Caucus will kick off the primary election season on January 15.