Takeaways from CNN’s Iowa town hall with Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Tuesday showed new urgency in taking on Donald Trump, attacking the former president at every turn at a CNN town hall in Iowa with the state’s caucuses less than five weeks away.

DeSantis was quick to flip many questions into opportunities to contrast his record as governor with Trump.

The economy? Trump “set the stage” for rising inflation, DeSantis said. The border crisis? Trump didn’t complete the wall, and Mexico didn’t pay for it, he said. Abortion? Trump is “flip-flopping on the right to life,” the Florida governor claimed.

He even blamed Trump for the Satanic Temple of Iowa’s display at the state Capitol, a development that has roiled Iowa and triggered a free speech debate. “Lo and behold, the Trump administration gave them approval to be under the IRS as a religion,” DeSantis said, referring to the Internal Revenue Service granting the group tax-exempt status in 2019.

Missing from Tuesday’s event were the conservative culture war-infused buzzwords that typically pepper DeSantis’ speeches and town halls. Instead, he focused on issues that polls show are top of mind for the broader electorate. And he treated everything — even a question about an endorsement rival Nikki Haley had just gotten from New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu — as an opportunity to attack Trump.