It was just last month when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis sat down with NBC News’ Kristen Welker for a “Meet the Press” interview. When the host asked the Republican presidential hopeful whether he’d remain in the race following a possible defeat in the Iowa caucuses, the governor challenged the premise of the question.

“Well, we’re going to win the caucus,” DeSantis said, adding, “We’re going to win Iowa. I think it’s going to help propel us to the nomination.”

He did not, in fact, win Iowa. As an NBC News analysis explained overnight:

The good news for DeSantis in Iowa was that his base remained enthusiastic enough to brave the cold and make him the runner-up. The bad news here is the same for him as it is across the rest of the country: He’s down to his most committed voters because he has lost almost everyone else.

And the worst news is that he doesn’t appear to be well positioned to actually win any nominating contests in the coming weeks and months.

For the governor and his team, the fact that DeSantis finished second was itself a victory of sorts — in large part because the latest round of polling suggested he’d fall to third place, which would effectively end his candidacy.

“They threw everything but the kitchen sink at us,” the governor said at his caucus night event, acting as if he’d just succeeded. “They spent almost $50 million attacking us. … Despite all of that they threw at us, everyone against us, we’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa!”

The rhetoric seemed to implicitly acknowledge the broader circumstances: If DeSantis finished third in a state he fought desperately to win, his journey would’ve ended. A second-place finish means the train will keep rolling.

But there was one glaring flaw in the Florida Republican’s pitch: It overlooked the fact that Donald Trump won the Iowa caucuses by roughly 30 points in the most lopsided victory in the history of the nominating contest.

There was a point last summer when it appeared DeSantis had a credible shot in the Hawkeye State. He’d narrowed the polling gap against the former president to roughly 19 points and had some semblance of momentum.

But in the months that followed, as the governor focused heavily on Iowa, his support faltered. Narrowly avoiding a humiliating third-place finish is not evidence of success; it’s evidence of a candidate who went all out to win a state before losing in a landslide.