After Trump’s announcement that he would skip the 2024 Republican presidential primary debate, Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went to the Iowa State Fair to stump for her former boss.
Greene was captured on camera serving drinks to fairgoers while waving a Trump campaign banner from the famous ski lift perched above the event.
In order to represent the former president at the Republican primary presidential debate in Milwaukee on Wednesday, Greene will be joined by other prominent Trump congressional friends at the request of the Trump campaign.
On Thursday, Greene will have yet another chance to show her support for Trump, this time in her own backyard, as Trump turns himself in to the Fulton County jail for his fourth arraignment following his indictment for his alleged role in schemes to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 presidential election results.
Given the short amount of time Trump would be there and the strict security measures around the jail, Greene said it’s still unclear if she will go. However, she has already scheduled backup flights.
“I just talked to President Trump earlier today and told him that, of course, I’d be there in any capacity that he needed me,” Greene said, according to AWN.
Trump’s political and legal battles have converged, and Greene’s actions are part of a larger web of surrogates and allies who have fanned out across the airwaves, hit the campaign trail, and made legislative moves to support the former president. This is a playbook that has been used by a recurring cast of characters after each of Trump’s three prior indictments.
Both on the offensive against electoral opponents like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the defensive against the torrent of legal challenges, the Trump campaign has eagerly leant into the former president’s huge reservoir of congressional support in recent weeks.
While touring the Iowa State Fair earlier this month, Trump was accompanied by many Florida Republicans. The endorsements of Byron Donalds, Greg Steube, Matt Gaetz, and Anna Paulina Luna supporting Ron DeSantis are a blatant strike at one of Trump’s main opponents in the election for governor of Florida.
Trump has gained not just greater direct insight into the House GOP’s manoeuvring but also more face time with his supporters on Capitol Hill as a result of this. According to Donalds, who shared the plane with the former president on their way to the Iowa State Fair last weekend, Trump inquired about the status of congressional investigations into the Biden family and the possibility of an impeachment inquiry being opened into President Joe Biden over his son’s foreign business dealings.
“Of course he is interested,” Donalds added, emphasising that Trump was not issuing instructions but rather seeking information. Six months from now, Joe Biden will once again be his political opponent. Would you not be curious?
Gaetz, who told AWN he will be in Trump’s spin room on Wednesday, explained the former president’s interest in an impeachment inquiry into Biden as follows: “It’s really piqued the interest of the country, and I don’t think he’s immune from having an interest in it.”
Given the ex-president’s preoccupation with the issue, it’s not surprising that several Republican politicians have vying to lead an impeachment push. Steube filed his own articles of impeachment against Biden the day before he and Trump were scheduled to visit in Iowa.
A straw poll was taken: “How many of you think we should impeach Joe Biden?” Next to Trump on stage on August 12, Steube asked.
As the audience began yelling “Trump!” Trump reached over and put his hand on Steube’s shoulder.
Trump’s spokespeople plan their debate attack.
A few of Trump’s surrogates, who will be standing in for the former president in Wednesday night’s debate, are preparing: Multiple sources claim that they have gotten opposition research reports about the other candidates and have been briefed by GOP strategists aligned with Trump.
The surrogates are being instructed to emphasise Trump’s policy and his overwhelming lead in the primary election, in addition to attacking the other Republican contenders. All of Trump’s past indictments have been met with the same response: campaign-approved talking points distributed to surrogates and allies. Two sources acquainted with the documents told AWN that Trump’s surrender to the Fulton County jail on Thursday has also been the subject of prepared talking points.
For the Trump campaign, “we want to make sure that we have a strong presence in every market,” Gaetz added. That includes communicating with our activists and volunteers, as well as the media. We’ll have enough to discuss after the discussion, but first I’d like to see it unfold.
Donalds, who will be present at Wednesday night’s debate for Trump, told AWN that his plan of attack for the evening is to “watch the debate. Adding, “Let’s see what happens,” I said, “My goal is to be a supporter of the president’s to assist him get our nomination. And that’s where the rest of it fits in.”
Politico reports that Greene, who has long been said to be seeking Trump’s pick to be his running mate, is among the politicians who have been approached by Trump to act as surrogates for the former president because of the possible political benefits they could bring to Trump’s campaign.
Donalds told AWN, “Look, who wouldn’t?,” when asked if he would be willing to serve as Trump’s vice president or in a future Trump administration. Sure, who wouldn’t want that? In that respect, the ball is squarely in his court and that of his team. That is beyond my sphere of influence. You already know that I told them, but for me, it’s all about the victory. The only thing I care about is winning and getting our country back on track.
Trump supporter Kari Lake is also planning to attend the debate on his behalf; after an unsuccessful run for governor of Arizona, Lake is openly considering a run for the United States Senate and is even rumoured to be seeking for a position on Trump’s ticket.
Lake is not worried that other candidates would get an advantage over Trump because of his absence on Wednesday.
She stated of Trump, “The fact that everybody has been asking about President Trump in the last interview I just did, and the interview before that, and the interview before that, tells me he’s already won.” “No one has inquired as to where I’ve seen these other people.”
Gaetz and Greene will not only be representing Trump at the debate, but they also aim to host a special post-debate show to analyse the event.
“I haven’t attended a presidential debate before…. Greene admitted, “I’m learning a lot about myself through this whole process.” As one person said, “But honestly, this is the number one comment I’ve heard from everyone: It’s really boring without the president here.”
According to sources close to both Trump and the members, the former president’s team had sought out to even more Republican members of Congress, both in the House and the Senate, to represent him in Milwaukee, but at least two informed the former president they would be unable to go due to prior commitments. Fox News informed the Trump campaign on Monday that they will not provide credentials to some surrogates of the former president to attend the spin room at the debate given Trump is not planning to participate, according to three sources with direct knowledge of the matter cited by AWN. These surrogates were originally expected to include Gaetz, Greene, Lake, Donalds, and GOP Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas. The spin room’s credentialing is handled by Fox News. Credentials for the actual debate are handled by the RNC, and according to sources, those tickets will still be honoured. Gaetz told AWN he will be working in Trump’s “spin room.”
Congressmen will be present in the spin room for all of the presidential candidates, not just Trump. Texas Rep. Chip Roy, who backed DeSantis for the GOP nomination before any other House Republican, told AWN he plans to attend Wednesday’s debate, while a GOP source verified that South Dakota Sen. John Thune will represent South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott at the event.
Greene was already provoking Desantis fans before the congressional debate even began by tweeting a photo of a bingo card that poked fun at the performance of the Florida governor during the debate.
She tweeted, “Everyone get your bingo cards ready for tomorrow night!”