DES MOINES, Iowa — Former Texas GOP Rep. Will Hurd was heckled by Iowa Republicans after he told the Lincoln Day Dinner, an important party fundraiser, that former President Donald Trump was seeking reelection because he was trying to “stay out of prison.”
“Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again. Donald Trump is not running for president to represent the people that voted for him in 2016 and 2020. Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” Hurd said Friday during the Iowa Republican Party event in Des Moines.
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Parts of the crowded ballroom erupted into boos, with several guests clanging their flatware and glasses with their silverware, one day after special counsel Jack Smith hit Trump with more charges in the federal classified documents case.
“Listen, I know the truth. The truth is hard. But if we elect Donald Trump, we are willingly giving Joe Biden four more years in the White House,” he said. “America can’t handle that.”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who immediately followed Hurd at the cattle call event, thanked the former congressman for making him look good in comparison.
“Thank you, Will. You just made it very easy for me,” he quipped.
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The Lincoln Day Dinner is a critical opportunity for 2024 Republican primary presidential candidates to differentiate themselves from a crowded field before next January’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
Trump has an average of 52% support, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) has 18%, biotechnology entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and former Vice President Mike Pence have 5%, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley has 4%, and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) has 3%, according to RealClearPolitics.