A busy week for Republican presidential hopefuls in Iowa makes it clear: the 2024 election campaign is fully underway.
Republicans vying for the presidential nomination have been in and out of the state. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were just here, and on June 3, Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst hosted most of the hopefuls at her Roast and Ride event, with barbecue and a motorcycle ride.
DeSantis’ first visit to Iowa as an official candidate earlier in the week started with a trip to a church — a nod to the importance evangelical Christians play in Iowa’s Republican politics, something the Florida governor hopes to capitalize on.
DeSantis is seen as Trump’s biggest rival in the race for the nomination. DeSantis made a reference to the last time he was in the state, when he made an unscheduled stop in Des Moines the same day Trump canceled an outdoor rally there because of a severe weather threat.
“The weather was so nice that we felt we just had to come back and pay everyone a little bit of a visit," he joked.
But DeSantis wasn’t done criticizing the former president. He shot back after Trump said he “failed” in the face of COVID-19.
“He's attacking me over some of these disagreements, but I think he's doing it in a way that the voters are gonna side with me," he said. "I mean, we talked about COVID. Do you want [Andrew] Cuomo? Or do you want free Florida if we just decided the caucuses on that, I would be happy with that verdict by Iowa voters.”
During DeSantis’ five stops across the state, his staff and supporters greeted rally goers with pamphlets, asking voters to commit to caucusing for him.
Kristine and Frank Fasano came out to see DeSantis in Pella.
“I'd like to get more details on his platform on how he's going to try to accomplish some of these things,” Kristine said.
Frank called DeSantis “ a sharp young man” who would do a “great job.”
At the Machine Shed Restaurant in suburban Des Moines on Thursday, Trump immediately jabbed at DeSantis over the Florida governor’s comments that a nominee needs to be able to serve two terms.
“We don’t need eight years. We need five months or less,” he said.
After so many years of mass-scale rallies, Trump took things down a notch on this trip with a more intimate slate of events — but the rhetoric was still dialed up.
“There's no way I can lose Iowa. Let's see what happens. I don't think so," he said. "We'd have to do some really bad things to lose at this point."
Trump took a more personal approach to campaigning. He met privately for lunch with local pastors, then hung out with campaign volunteers.
“They said we can get you in and out quickly and I said I’ll stay for pizza with my friends," he said.
But, in typical Trump style, he continued to push falsehoods about the outcome of the 2020 election. His trip ended with a televised Fox News town hall.
Two days later, the other Republicans running wanted to show Iowans the race is on. Trump didn’t make it to Ernst’s “Roast and Ride,” but his former vice president did.
Mike Pence is planning on announcing his bid in Iowa this week, which he talked about as he mounted a Harley Davidson motorcycle.
“We have a very clear sense of that calling now and we thought Iowa would be the best place to make our intentions known," he said.
Pence was the only one to ride with Ernst to the state fairgrounds, where hundreds of Iowans gathered to hear from South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson. DeSantis was there, too.
When former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley took the mic, she reminded Iowans that their choice has an outsized impact — so make it carefully.
“It’s going to take a lot of courage; courage for me to run and courage for everyone to know: Don’t complain about what you get in a general if you don’t play in this caucus, because it matters," she said.
Likely Iowa caucusgoers have months to make a decision before they commit. Before that though, the candidates will take to the national debate stage — or at least the ones who can meet RNC criteria, which may also help Iowans winnow the field.
