(C) Florida Phoenix This story was originally published by Florida Phoenix and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Trump, DeSantis and more 2024 candidates pack Iowa State Fair [1] ['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- August'] Date: 2023-08-13 The Republican frontrunners in the 2024 presidential race — former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis — competed for attention Saturday on the packed Iowa State Fairgrounds along with a handful of other candidates. Republicans Nikki Haley, Vivek Ramaswamy and Ryan Binkley also held events on the fairgrounds, while Democrats Marianne Williamson and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. worked to gather support for a challenge to President Joe Biden. Former Vice President Mike Pence, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez and businessman Perry Johnson also made stops to the Iowa State Fair Thursday and Friday. Trump was planning to tour the fairgrounds with Florida endorsers while DeSantis planned to meet with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and spend his time with Iowa endorsers. For Iowans like Patty Joliet of West Des Moines, the Iowa State Fair is an opportunity to hear from a wide variety of candidates in person as they weigh options leading up to the Iowa caucuses in 2024. Joliet said she enjoyed hearing from candidates at Reynolds’ “fair-side chats” series, and planned to spend her Saturday afternoon hearing from both Republican and Democratic 2024 hopefuls at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox. “We haven’t made any commitments, but I want someone who … is presenting a better future for America for my children, my grandchildren, because what’s happening right now is unsustainable,” Joliet said. The fair is also an opportunity for viral moments: Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy started out the morning rapping “Lose Yourself” by Eminem. As candidates made their Fair rounds Saturday morning, a plane flew overhead with “Be likeable, Ron!” on a banner flying behind it. Here’s the latest from day three at the state fair: Protests, Trump supporters follow Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis As a plane flew overhead trailing a banner printed with “Be likeable, Ron,” protesters tried to drown out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ talk with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. Some of the protesters, who were yelling, blowing whistles and hitting cowbells, were escorted away from the “fair-side chat” by Iowa State Patrol officers after a skirmish broke out. Reynolds had called for the crowd to stay “Iowa nice” during the “fair-side chat,” but was ignored. “You know what? We’re in Iowa, we’re Iowa nice, so let’s give everyone the opportunity to hear every candidate,” Reynolds said. The Florida governor, a frontrunner in the 2024 Republican presidential race, stuck to his campaign points despite the noise. He bantered with Reynolds about their race to complete a 99-county tour of Iowa, and said his family’s favorite fair food is fried Oreos. “I haven’t had anything yet today,” DeSantis said. “They tell me you have to be careful about being photographed eating something, so, maybe I’ll have the pork.” After his speech, DeSantis went to the Iowa Pork Producers’ tent to flip pork chops, where he was met with Trump supporters chanting “We love Trump!” and DeSantis supporters countered with “U. S. A.” chants. DeSantis was joined by Reynolds and Iowa Republicans U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and Rep. Zach Nunn at the grill. In his talk with Reynolds, DeSantis talked about his commitment to “parental rights,” highlighting the “Mamas for DeSantis” campaign spearheaded by his wife, Casey DeSantis, his support for school choice and criticism of “indoctrination” in schools on topics like LGBTQ+ issues. “That’s why Biden says things like, ‘they’re not your kids,’ quote, ‘they’re all of our kids,’ no,” DeSantis said. “They’re not your kids Joe, I’m sorry.” Mary Hamiel, a Republican from Mason City, said she was happy to see DeSantis — her top pick for the 2024 Iowa caucuses — at the State Fair, though she was interested in trying to see former President Donald Trump on his stop as well. She said she was not bothered by how protesters and supporters of other candidates act toward DeSantis, and was glad to see him on the campaign trail. “It’s okay, that’s just part of people, the way they act,” Hamiel said. “You’ll get them anywhere. I’m just happy he’s here and I get to see him.” Former President Donald Trump targets DeSantis at Iowa State Fair stop Former President Donald Trump called out rival Ron DeSantis when speaking to reporters at the fair, comparing his “record crowd” to the audience that gathered to see the Florida governor’s events. “He had a very small crowd,” Trump said. “He only had a few people show up. It’s a big difference.” Trump was a major attraction, to the point that the Iowa State Fairgrounds Grand Concourse was partially blocked by a crowd waiting for entrance into the Steer N Stein building Saturday afternoon as people waited to see him. DeSantis attracted a smaller crowd that still numbered hundreds of people earlier Saturday for a “fair-side chat” with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The former president, who currently leads in the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, came to the fair alongside a group of supporters from Florida — U.S. Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Anna Paulina Luna, Greg Steube and Mike Waltz. The delegation was seen as a jab at DeSantis, the Florida governor. Former acting attorney general in the Trump administration, Iowan Matt Whitaker, also joined the group. Trump gave some brief remarks at the Steer N Stein but did not make the state fair campaign stops with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox that most other presidential candidates have scheduled. He stopped at the Iowa Pork Tent shortly after arriving at the fair, talking with the people volunteering at the grill, signing hats and signs. The crowd of hundreds, gathered around the pork tent to catch a glimpse of Trump, cheered when he held up a pork chop on a stick. Sarah Lee, a Webster County resident, waited outside the tent in hopes of taking a picture of the former president. Lee said she was planning to support Trump in the Iowa caucuses. While she said she did not enjoy some of Trump’s habits of criticizing other Republicans, she believed Trump was still the most likely Republican candidate to win the general election and enact conservative policies in 2024. “He doesn’t have anything to prove, because he already has. He has already delivered,” Lee said. “So, I like what some of these other guys are saying, but we already have someone who was the president and proved that, you know, that he’s actually going to do what he says.” Hundreds of people also lined up around the entrance and back of the Steer N Stein building in hopes of seeing Trump as he and his Florida surrogates spoke. Campaign volunteers handed out “Farmers for Trump” hats to those gathered. After his Steer N Stein appearance, Trump exited the state fair by motorcade, with plans to hold an event with some Iowa volunteers before leaving the state on his private plane. This story was published earlier by the Iowa Capital Dispatch, an affiliate of the nonprofit States Newsroom network, which includes the Florida Phoenix. [END] --- [1] Url: https://floridaphoenix.com/2023/08/13/trump-desantis-and-more-2024-candidates-pack-iowa-state-fair/ Published and (C) by Florida Phoenix Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/floridaphoenix/