Iowa Faith Leader ADMITS His Foundation Got Paid By DeSantis Campaign Before Giving Endorsement

Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats has officially endorsed Ron DeSantis for president.

Shortly after Plaats pledge his endorsement, Fox News Host Bret Baier had some questions about the faith leader’s endorsement.

In an interview Baier asked Plaats if the DeSantis campaign and other PACs linked to DeSantis gave $95,000 to the Family Leader Foundation which is led by Plaats.

Plaats replied “It’s definitely true.”

Watch him admit it here:

BREAKING: Iowa evangelical leader admits he was paid by the DeSantis Team prior to his endorsement pic.twitter.com/EoVmMPLe1y

— Jack Poso 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 21, 2023

Here’s what AP reported:

Bob Vander Plaats, an influential Iowa evangelical leader, endorsed Ron DeSantis for president Tuesday, boosting the Florida governor as he goes all in on the leadoff caucus state in an effort to trip up Republican front-runner Donald Trump.

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Vander Plaats is the second major backer DeSantis has picked up in Iowa this month, joining popular Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Evangelicals are a crucial voting bloc in Iowa’s Republican caucuses. Vander Plaats, president of the Family Leader, has endorsed the eventual winner in every GOP caucus since 2008 and is potentially jeopardizing his streak by picking DeSantis, who trails far behind Trump in polls. His decision will test his sway among Iowa evangelicals, many of whom continue to support Trump.

If Trump wins Iowa, he’ll probably go on to be the nominee, “but I don’t think America is going to elect him president again,” Vander Plaats told Fox News host Bret Baier.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will receive the support of Bob Vander Plaats, an evangelical Christian who heads The Family Leader, an influential social conservative group.https://t.co/hAZf9IbfcM https://t.co/DjChUclPXL

— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) November 22, 2023

Per Reuters:

As Florida Governor Ron DeSantis scrambles to shore up his struggling run for the Republican presidential nomination, he has spent far more than any rival on courting an influential Christian conservative leader and his following in the key early voting state of Iowa.

Trailing far behind former President Donald Trump in national polls and beset by turmoil in his campaign, DeSantis and his advisers are spending heavily in Iowa in hopes of stalling Trump’s momentum by beating him in the state’s caucuses on Jan. 15, where Republicans begin to choose their next presidential nominee. The state’s influential evangelical voting br is crucial to that strategy.

The DeSantis campaign, a super PAC linked to him and a nonprofit group supporting him together paid $95,000 in recent months to the Family Leader Foundation, an Iowa-brd nonprofit led by evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats, according to campaign finance reports and a document prepared by an Iowa state lawmaker who was helping the Vander Plaats organization raise money for a July 14 presidential candidate forum.

The document and the amount spent by DeSantis and his allies are previously unreported.

For that money, DeSantis and supporting groups got three pages of advertisements in a booklet distributed at the July forum attended by 2,000 Christian conservatives, and tickets to the summit, lunch and an after-dinner event.

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Evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats has endorsed Ron DeSantis.

Meanwhile his organization has received $95,000 from the Florida governor's campaign, as well as a super PAC and a non-profit group supporting him. pic.twitter.com/8xzgYQdEPr

— The Post Millennial (@TPostMillennial) November 22, 2023

Here was Trump’s response:

President Trump responds to Bob Vander Plaats’s paid endorsement of Ron DeSantis. DeSantis is no different from other pay-for-play politicians. pic.twitter.com/GvDJTxfY47

— Babble 365 (@Babble365) November 22, 2023