After securing the second position in Monday’s Iowa Caucuses, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis addressed his supporters at a post-caucus event. Thanking his supporters for their support, DeSantis tried to gear them up with a message of hope laced with thorns for his political rivals and the media.

“They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us… They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us. They spent almost $50 million dollars attacking us. No one’s faced that much all the way just through Iowa.”

He then called out the media for election interference, saying, “They, the media, was against us. They were writing our obituary months ago. They even called the election before people got the chance to vote. But they were just so excited about the fact that they were projecting that we won’t be able to get our ticket punched here out of Iowa.”

“But I can tell you, because of your support — in spite of all of that, that they threw at us, everyone against us — we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa,” he added.

He went on to praise the people of Iowa for their support, saying that the state showed him that there is “basic decency” among the people of America.

“We’ve got hard-working people, God-fearing people, patriotic people. You just don’t see it every day because of all the nonsense it gets spewed out there by the media, by social media, all this other stuff. People want to have hope for this country’s future,” he stated, tying it to his campaign message.

“We represent a chance to reverse the madness that we’ve seen in this country, to reverse the decline of this country, and to give this country a new birth of freedom and a restoration of sanity. That’s what we are going to do,” he declared.

He later assured voters that he will put forward a great performance as president and do the work that needs to be done.

In his words, “We have a lot of work to do, but I can tell you this: As the next President of the United States, I am going to get the job done for this country. I am not going to make any excuses. And I guarantee you this: I will not let you down.”

DeSantis had put in a great deal of his time and resources in Iowa. Perhaps his efforts paid off as much as they could as his performance in the primary beat polling expectations. While he was put at 15.7% support by the Real Clear Politics average of polls before Monday night’s votes, he finished with 21.3% support.

His approximately 21% finish gives him an edge over former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who finished third with 19%. Former President Donald Trump was the clear winner of the night, taking away 51% of the votes.