Iowa Republican Gov Kim Reynolds has been using an X account — unassociated with her official position — to roast former president Donald Trump.
Ms Reynolds, who has endorsed Florida Gov Ron DeSantis for the 2024 GOP nomination, has been using @Kimberl26890376 to rag on Mr Trump in the lead-up to the Iowa caucuses.
The New York Times first reported the existence of the burner account, which has since been taken down. The Independent has reached out to Ms Reynolds’ office.
Few seem to have known about Ms Reynolds’ personal account, as it apparently boasted less than 300 followers. However, some of those included “influential Iowa political operatives,” the outlet noted.
A person familiar with the account’s existence confirmed to the Times that it belonged to the Iowa Republican.
The Iowa governor reposted a meme in January of side-by-side photos: one showing Mr DeSantis surrounded by his conservatively dressed family next to the other showing a tuxedo-clad Mr Trump surrounded by four women — three of whom are wearing low-cut dresses.
“The contrast is overwhelming…” the meme account wrote.
She also reposted a tweet in November that read: “Trump has no loyalty but demands it from everyone else. That’s FEALTY. Which makes sense because these people want a king.”
In December, Gov Reynolds reportedly gave a boost to the DeSantis campaign, writing from her burner account: “Followed through 100% on promises made!!”
Publicly, Ms Reynolds has denounced the former president as well. When she endorsed the Florida governor in November, she said, “I believe [Trump] can’t win… and I believe that Ron can. And that’s a big reason I got behind him.”
Despite her private — and public — condemnation of Mr Trump, the Iowa governor told Bloomberg earlier this week that she would back him if he became her party’s nominee: “I’m a Republican. Any one of the candidates that we have running will do a better job than the absentee president that we have serving at this point.”
