As former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis descend on the Hawkeye State and take part in the ever-important Iowa State Fair during the 2024 Republican presidential primary election cycle, “America’s Governor” is posing a threat to the former president.
President Trump arrived at the fair in Des Moines with several of his endorsees—Reps. Byron Donalds, Cory Mills, Matt Gaetz, Greg Steube, Michael Waltz, Carlos Gimenez, and Brian Mast.
Gov. DeSantis countered Trump's entourage with a group of his own endorsees, including his wife, First Lady Casey DeSantis, and his kids, Mason, Madison, and Mamie. All of Trump's endorsees were from Florida while DeSantis's supporters, which also included state lawmakers, were all from Iowa.
President Trump and his campaign have been blistering DeSantis over the massive lead he holds over Florida's governor in all of the national public opinion polls, and have dismissed him as being disloyal, and suggesting he drop out of the race.
Team DeSantis contends that Team Trump is fearful of DeSantis, and while the polls do show Trump leading DeSantis “bigly,” a recent political mailer paid for by President Trump signals that DeSantis is the main threat to Trump’s presidential campaign in Iowa.
Trump’s mailer calls DeSantis a “Utter Catastrophe for Iowans” and alleges that Florida’s Governor is bad for farmers.
Here is what Trump alleges:
“Governor DeSantis’ record on agriculture in Florida is horrendous. DeSantis recently vetoes over $130 million in farm subsidies for Florida’s 47,000 farms and ranches.”
“DeSantis heartlessly opposed President Trump’s $28 million relief payments to protect our farmers from Chinese abuses.”
“DeSantis opposes Ethanol and has been fighting for years to kill every single job supported by this vital industry.”
“DeSantis repeatedly voted against the Renewable Fuel Standard, slandered the ethanol mandate as “socialism,” and called this vicious plan to annihilate the Iowa Farming Industry “a no-brainer.”
Outside of wearing a straw hat, tending to livestock, or shucking corn during his visits to Iowa, President Trump is widely seen as the best farm-friendly president in modern American history.
Trump’s historic scrapping of the anti-America Clinton-era North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), with his USMCA deal, not to mention his $28 billion American Farm bailout and his support for “Iowa Ethenol,” has helped him garner rockstar status with farmers across the nation.
Trump's claim that DeSantis has not been good to Florida farmers carries a lot of weight. Since before being elected governor in 2018, DeSantis has held a very lukewarm relationship with Florida farmers.
“There is no conceivable reason to target agriculture in a year when we have billions of dollars in reserves,” said Agriculture Commissioner WiltonSimpson of DeSantis recent vetoing of agriculture subsidies. “Agriculture was harmed today and so was the state of Florida.”
“We are able to do things that make a difference in people’s lives, not by wasting money, but by spending it on things that really have a great impact on the general public," said DeSantis.
The most recent poll taken of voting Iowan Republicans has Trump leading DeSantis by 24 percentage points, but DeSantis’s rebooted presidential campaign continues to draw crowds, both large and small, as he traverses Iowa.
DeSantis is making deep inroads into Trump country, but can he sustain this momentum for another 5 months?
His campaign “reboot” appears to be resonating with Iowans, who have historically gravitated to presidential candidates that take more of an on-the-ground, grassroots approach to campaigning.
DeSantis is now holding smaller meet-and-greet events in all 99 of Iowa’s counties, as opposed to the larger, less personal events he held when he first launched his campaign.
Trump has made a few stops in Iowa, but not as many as DeSantis.
This is expected to change, as the former president is expected to make a big push in all of the early voting states.
Iowans will caucus on January 15, 2024.
