national campaign, desantis is now laser focused on early nominating states such as iowa which is set to hold the gop primaries first caucuses january 15th. great to be back in the state of iowa. reporter: recent poll shows donald trump with a commanding lead in the state garnering 46% of the vote from likely caucus goers. desantis has 16%. stakes are high. we didn don t have the opportunity to fritter it away and we have to get the job done. reporter: desantis five stop bus tour sponsored by never back down, the super pac supporting him that has raised some $130 million since march and is focused on building on an infrastructure across a number of states to support the campaign. we don t feel like that we need jane doe at 123 main street in iowa to know everything that there is to know by tomorrow. you know, we have six months to help deliver that. reporter: and as his campaign resets, desantis is zeroing in on his message of electability
saying that it seems we broke the internet with so much excitement. while you re waiting, donate now. we need the courage to lead and we must have the strength to win. reporter: daes also asked about the naacp issuing a travel advisory against his state claiming florida is not safe for minorities to visit. claiming florida is unsafe is a total as far as. reporter: this is the latest move in the presidential campaign rollout. he filed paperwork earlier wednesday with the federal election commission. on tuesday desantis wife tweeted a hype video. america has been worth it. reporter: desantis jumped in the primary following months of speculation about the florida governor s political future fueled by a national book tour and visits to key early nominating states. i have only begun to fight. reporter: as the republican fight intensifies, a new cnn
wednesday with the federal election commission. on tuesday desantis wife tweeted a hype video. america has been worth it. reporter: desantis jumped in the primary following months of speculation about the florida governor s political future fueled by a national book tour and visits to key early nominating states. i have only begun to fight. reporter: as the republican fight intensifies, a new cnn poll shows former president trump leading the gop field with roughly double the support of desantis and no other candidate in double figures. but the survey also finds the republican field to be far from settled. more than 8 in 10 of those polled said they would either support or say they are opening to consider either trump or desantis.
months of speculation about the florida governor s political future, fueled by a national book tour and visits to key early nominating states. i have only begun to fight. reporter: as the republican primary fight intensifies, a new cnn poll shows former president donald trump leading the gop field with roughly double the support of desantis and no other candidate in double figures. but the survey also finds the republican field to be far from settled. more than 8 in 10 of those polled say they d either support or open to considering either trump or desantis. we have to reject the culture of losing that has infected our party in recent years. we have no more time for excuses. reporter: desantis and trump have appeared to be on a collision course for months with the former president launching repeated attacks against the florida governor. desang advertise is crashing and burning. reporter: desantis has been intentional in not directly attacking trump, instead, using
months since announcing his presidential bid, trump advisers are taking steps to position him for a protracted campaign, building out a policy platform including an education plan heavy on culture war proposals. our public schools have been taken over by the radical left maniacs. reporter: the former president is also set to dial up his travel in the coming weeks with an event planned in iowa next week, just days after florida governor ron desantis plans to visit the key early nominating state. while desantis isn t expected to launch a presidential bid until at least may, trump and his team have been digging into the potential rival s record for months. one area of focus, desantis past support for entitlement programs. we are not going back to people that want to destroy our great social security system, even some in our own party. i wonder who that might be. reporter: facing criticism from trump as well as democrats, the florida governor now says republicans won t, quote, mes