Former President Donald Trump and his top-polling competitor, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, attended the hundreds of potential caucus attendees Saturday at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to discuss the 2024 Republican presidential election.
Since the Democratic Party shifted Iowa to the first position in its nominating calendar in 1972 and the Republican Party did the same four years later, the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines has been a staple on the presidential campaign trail.
Neither Trump nor DeSantis made an appearance at The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox, a staple of many state fairs. However, DeSantis had a one-on-one “fair-side chat” with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, as did the majority of other GOP candidates. Trump skipped the meeting because he has repeatedly cast doubt on Reynolds’ impartiality in the election and accused the popular governor of cozying up to DeSantis. However, Trump reversed course later on Saturday, saying he now likes Reynolds “very much.”
As Trump mingled with his followers and allies, he was hailed with loud applause. The ex-president boasted about the fair’s “record crowd” while dodging most queries regarding his legal troubles.
While walking around the fairgrounds, DeSantis received both applause and jeers, which he took as “a sign of strength.”
“They know, that we will beat Biden and that we will be able to turn this country around,” DeSantis told AWN. DeSantis responded to a question about whether he might win over his opponents by saying, “average Americans are open to a new direction.”
The former president went to Iowa with a group of people whose main purpose was to mock DeSantis. It’s made up of Florida’s congressional representatives who support Trump over their governor. The members of Congress who sponsored this resolution were Gus Bilirakis, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Anna Paulina Luna, Greg Steube, and Mike Waltz.
With less than two weeks until the first Republican presidential debate — one Trump has not yet declared he’ll participate in — the fair was the closest the two 2024 hopefuls have gotten to a direct confrontation.
Prior to the release of the news of Trump’s third indictment, a poll of probable Republican caucusgoers in Iowa done by the New York Times and Siena College showed that Trump was supported by 44% of respondents, DeSantis by 20%, South Carolina Senator Tim Scott by 9%, and no other contender by more than 5%.
More than half of the Iowa GOP electorate prefers someone else, demonstrating the importance of the Hawkeye State’s January 15 caucuses for those vying to become the party’s chief alternative to Trump. This is a smaller lead for the former president than what national polls of likely Republican voters have found.
DeSantis is also working to fix problems with his own campaign. Concerns from funders and supporters about his campaign’s messaging and high spending rate since he entered the race in May prompted him to make additional modifications and send him to Iowa this week.
A trusted aide known in Florida as a relentless enforcer of DeSantis’ agenda and committed custodian of the Republican’s political brand, James Uthmeier was promoted to chief of staff for the governor’s office this week, replacing Generra Peck as the campaign manager.
The governor of Florida, on the other hand, has a number of advantages in the Hawkeye State. His campaign team, for example, is comprised of several people who worked on Texas Senator Ted Cruz’s successful 2016 campaign.
Supporters of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign revealed on Friday that they had appointed at least one county chairperson in each of Iowa’s 99 counties.
On Thursday’s episode of the conservative podcast “Ruthless,” DeSantis pledged to travel to each and every county in Iowa if given the chance. He also poked fun at Trump for dodging the first Republican presidential debate, scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee.
DeSantis emphasised the importance of being open to questioning. If you want to succeed, “you’ve got to be willing to defend your record, and you’ve got to articulate a vision for the future.”
Candidates for the 2024 Republican nomination flocked to Iowa for one of the most watched political events before the January caucuses.
“I grew up in a little town in southern Indiana. My striking area is here. Travelling from the livestock shed to the pig pen. After giving a speech at The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox on Thursday, former Vice President Mike Pence told reporters, “I mean, this is a home court advantage for me.”
On Saturday, Nikki Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and current ambassador to the United Nations, made an appearance at the Iowa State Fair. Scott, who is competing with DeSantis to be the leading alternative to Trump in Iowa, will travel there the next week.
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, one of the eight Republican candidates invited to the first debate, told reporters at the state fair on Thursday that he plans to “just be ourselves” and “get them a chance to get to know us” because he is “the least known of any of eight people on the debate stage.”
“So part of the debate prep is right here, at the Iowa State Fair,” he continued, “talking to real voters, real people, understanding their concerns.”
