President and CEO of The FAMiLY Leader, Bob Vander Plaats, joined the Steve Deace Show on Monday to discuss the scrutiny given to his endorsement of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Vander Plaats has been criticized by President Donald J. Trump for receiving $95,000 from DeSantis-linked groups prior to endorsing DeSantis.
Vander Plaats continued to deny the $95,000 had anything to do with his endorsement and went on the offensive against Trump.
“Everything is in the sunlight, everything is above board,” Vander Plaats said.
Over the weekend, Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Vander Plaats.
“Bob Vander Plaats, the former High School accountant from Iowa, will do anything to win, something which he hasn’t done in many years,” Trump wrote. “He’s more known for scamming candidates than he is for victory, but now he’s going around using disinformation from the Champions of that Art, the Democrats. I don’t believe anything Bob Vander Plaats says. Anyone who would take $95,000, and then endorse a candidate who is going nowhere, is not what elections are all about!”
Trump previously posted that he “doesn’t think” DeSantis committed a major campaign finance violation by paying for Vander Plaats’ “useless endorsement.” Days earlier he said that DeSantis paying Vander Plaats $100,000 and then getting his endorsement was an “act of sheer desperation.”
The ministry, Vander Plaats said, cannot give anything of value to a candidate. He noted that Blaze TV was the media partner for the Leadership Summit earlier this year.
“They saw an exceptional value,” Vander Plaats said. “And if you talked to the leadership at Blaze TV, they’ll say the ROI from that Leadership Summit was unbelievable.”
Following the event, a dinner at the World Food Prize headquarters in Des Moines was very limited and cost $20,000 a table.
“We can’t give that away,” Vander Plaats said. “To me, a smart candidate, a smart campaign said ‘I want to be there. Those people are the influencers. And I’m trying to win the Iowa Caucuses.’ So everything that Ron DeSantis did was above board, in sunlight and everything The FAMiLY Leader did, same way.”
Vander Plaats said Vivek Ramaswamy also participated in the Summit as well as the dinner following. Tim Scott did the same, he added.
“All of the candidates had an opportunity to do it,” Vander Plaats said. “The ones who didn’t choose to do it, they all had the red carpet rolled out for them at the Leadership Summit.”
With Trump’s attacks on Vander Plaats, he said Trump knows better than anybody that his endorsement has never been for sale.
“But then to say Ron DeSantis bought my endorsement for $95,000, first of all I was offended,” he said. “Really, you think I sold an endorsement for $95,000? Absolutely not. The money didn’t go to me it went to the ministry of The FAMiLY Leader, which happens to go for a good thing.”
The Summit, in his opinion, was an outstanding return on investment for the campaigns, Vander Plaats said.
Previous to Vander Plaats’ endorsement, Trump said his endorsement didn’t matter. Now that it has been given, Trump is fixated on it.
Vander Plaats called it “beyond the pale” that Trump would claim The FAMiLY Leader is “pay for play.” The reaction to his endorsement, he said, reveals Trump’s true character. He criticized Trump for the video he made criticizing Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
“That tells me more than ever this party and this country needs to choose well about who is going to be representing us as President of the United States,” Vander Plaats said of Trump’s criticisms of Reynolds, DeSantis and Vander Plaats. “Being President is just not a CEO. It’s being a statesman. Are you worthy to be followed? Are moms and dads, grandpas and grandmas, are they willing to point to you and say, ‘Grow up to be like him or her.’ And I told people in 2019 in Jerusalem, and we know the 2020 election was coming upon us, and I told them, ‘the number one hurdle for Donald Trump is I’ve never met a dad or a mom or a grandpa or a grandma who have told me they want their son or daughter or grandchild to grow up to be like him.’ That’s a big deal.”
Vander Plaats referred to DeSantis and his wife, Casey, as a “model family.”
He closed by saying Trump’s personal attacks prove he has lost the policy debates.
“(Trump) proved he was not worthy of the endorsement,” Vander Plaats said. “I believe Iowa will rise up. I believe Iowa will send a message on Jan. 15. I think they’re seeing through this as well. This is smoke in mirrors. This is not leadership our country needs.”
Deace closed by asking Vander Plaats if he believed Trump should be sued.
Vander Plaats said he has discussed it with his team, but is focused on getting DeSantis elected.
“While I think there is a potential of being liable here, right now my focus is going to be on electing Ron DeSantis,” he said. “Does Donald Trump deserve to be sued? Probably. But we’ll wait for that. Right now I believe Ron DeSantis deserves to win and Donald Trump deserves to lose. I think that’s the best message we can send him right now.”
You can watch the segment below:
My endorsement NEVER has been and NEVER will be for sale.
Thanks to @SteveDeaceShow for giving me opportunity to address this baseless accusation.
To be clear, my decision is not against @realDonaldTrump, it is for the future of our country. #ChooseWell2024 pic.twitter.com/YfVIKLdInN
— Bob Vander Plaats (@bobvanderplaats) November 27, 2023
