DeSantis, Trump appear at same Iowa GOP event, both blast Biden

GOP presidential primary rivals Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis appeared for the first time at the same 2024 campaign event Friday, with each taking a break from dealing blows at one another to blast President Joe Biden.

The feuding Republicans briefly spoke at Iowa GOP’s annual Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines, along with 11 other hopefuls vying for the presidential ticket.

DeSantis wasted no time highlighting Biden’s recent troubles upon reaching the podium.

“Are you ready to send Joe Biden back to his basement in Delaware on a permanent vacation?” the Florida governor said at the top of his 10-minute speech.

“I can promise you this: in my White House, there will be no cocaine allowed in the White House. And look, my son’s only five years old so he’s not gonna be lining his pockets with money from foreign governments. So don’t worry about that.”

DeSantis touted his success in Florida, which he pointed out frequently flew in the face of policies Democrats were pushing nationally — including his pledge to “rip the politics out” of the military and to fight against critical race theory in schools.

He also slammed Vice President Kamala Harris for perpetrating “phony narratives” that the Sunshine State’s new middle school black history curriculum includes lessons “that enslaved people benefited from slavery” during a visit last week.

The governor ended his speech the same way it started — with a dig at Biden, who he called the “custodian” of America’s decline.

“I believe that decline is a choice I believe success is attainable. And I know that freedom is worth fighting for. This is our chance in 2024 to send the Biden-Harris administration to the dustbin of history where it belongs,” he said before receiving a standing ovation.

Trump, who was the final speaker of the night, also spent a generous portion of his speech accusing Biden of rigging the 2020 election, “mutilating” people’s bodies in support of transgender rights and siccing the Justice Department on him over his classified records indictments.

The former president brushed aside the latest accusations that he ordered a staffer to destroy evidence of his wrongdoing — even after opponent Former U.S. Rep. Will Hurd claimed earlier in the night that Trump is only running for president “to stay out of prison”

Trump also pointed to Biden’s disastrous evacuation of American soldiers in Afghanistan, calling it the “most embarrassing moment in the history of our country.”

“And because of that, I believe that was the incentive for Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine when he saw the incompetence of our military and our leadership more than anything else. The whole Afghanistan mess, what a shame it was,” Trump said.

“We will crush crooked Joe Biden the most crooked president in the history of our country by far and also grossly incompetent. Doesn’t know what he’s doing. He’s destroying our country.”

Trump — who is not typically shy of taking shots against his Republican contenders — barely made any digs against DeSantis except to brag about crushing him in the polls.

The duo has been largely pitted against one another in the leadup to DeSantis’ campaign announcement.

Though the Florida governor rarely responds to Trump’s low blows, the former president routinely slams “DeSanctimonious” as an insignificant opponent for the Republican nomination.

In spite of the bad blood, DeSantis has supported Trump as both the Justice Department and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office charged him in separate indictments this year, claiming both are political moves made by Democrats in an effort to stifle the Republican leader.