DES MOINES, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump demonstrated his dominance in the 2024 Republican primary, overshadowing his opponents during his first so-called cattle call event with chief rival Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL).
But with Trump contending increasingly complicated legal problems,12 other presidential candidates stepped into the political spotlight to pitch themselves to Iowa Republicans during the state party’s Lincoln Day Dinner fundraiser before next year’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.
DONALD TRUMP INDICTED: THREE THINGS WE LEARNED IN JACK SMITH’S SUPERSEDING INDICTMENT
Here are the Washington Examiner‘s winners and losers:
WINNERS
Trump
Despite appearing constrained by the strict 10-minute time limit, Trump lapped up the applause as he told the crowd Iowa has “never had a better friend in the White House” than him. Though he surprisingly stuck to script as he ripped “DeSanctus” for “aggressively” advocating against ethanol, he departed from his prepared remarks to reference his legal woes after walking onstage to Brooks and Dunn’s “Only in America,” with its lyrics, “One might end up going to prison, one might just be president.”
“If I weren’t running, I would have nobody coming after me, or, if I was losing by a lot, I would have nobody coming after me,” he told the ballroom. “They wouldn’t be coming after me.”
Downstairs afterward, the line of diner-donors hoping to have their photograph taken with an upbeat-looking Trump wrapped around the corner outside his reception room, where guests could have spoonfuls of ice cream as a post-event snack. Aides to the former president indicated he would speak to reporters, but he instead offered a defiant thumbs up as he left the space.
DeSantis
Expectations for DeSantis’s trip to Iowa this week were high as his campaign workshops its strategy and messaging after disappointing early polling and small-dollar fundraising during the second quarter of this year. But after the missteps, he found his footing behind the podium, receiving the second loudest welcome and standing ovation after Trump as he criticized Vice President Kamala Harris for attacking Florida’s new black history teaching standards. Interestingly, he declined to take on the former president directly.
“I’ve got Kamala Harris coming down to Florida trying to create phony narratives because she understands Florida has stood up to the Left’s agenda,” he said. “I’m not budging an inch.”
The line for DeSantis’s reception was also out the door, though it did not snake around the room as much as Trump’s. If the former Yale baseball captain appeared to grimace for photos, guests did not seem to mind as he shook their hand and signed the odd ball. They could then chuck those balls into a tower of Bud Light beer cans — with the safety of a backing net.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC)
Scott, who has become known as this election cycle’s “nice guy,” debuted tougher rhetoric regarding social issues after earlier underscoring differences between himself and DeSantis concerning slavery and critical race theory.
“We kneel to the father in prayer … and we stand for the flag in respect,” Scott said. “If you’re able-bodied in America, you work. If you take out a loan, you pay it back. If you commit a violent crime, you go to jail. And if God made you a man, you play sports against men.”
Similar to Trump, DeSantis, and many other candidates, Scott’s reception was held in two adjoining meeting rooms, unlike his South Carolina compatriot former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, who had only booked one. There, Scott mingled with guests as some tossed bean bags in a game of cornhole or played mini golf.
LOSERS
Former Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX)
Hurd, who started by introducing himself to members of the audience who did not know him, ensured he would be remembered after he was booed for being the only candidate to slam Trump by name.
“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,” Hurd said. “Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.”
“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, and America can’t handle that,” he added.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who was spotted drinking with aides outside his hotel in downtown Des Moines after his reception, joked about Hurd, a former undercover CIA agent, being his warm-up act: “Thank you, Will. You just made it very easy for me.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence and the rest of the field
Pence, who is at risk of not qualifying for next month’s first debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, if he does not meet the Republican National Committee‘s donor criteria, may not have changed hearts or minds based on an audible groan that was heard when he was announced by the emcee.
“Thank you for hearing me out,” Pence said later. “I look forward to seeing you at Casey’s and Pizza Ranch.”
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Pence’s reception was the only one closed to the press.
Although Haley and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson earned laughs for mentioning Biden’s acknowledgment of his illegitimate grandchild, they, along with Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, and radio host Larry Elder (with his fancy footwear), failed to break through. Neither did businessman and author Perry Johnson, who promised donors would be rewarded with complementary Big & Rich concert tickets, as he, too, attempts to make the debate.
