Republican leaders in Iowa are watching to see whether former President Donald Trump’s emerging feud with Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) could dent his support going into the presidential caucus.
Trump’s reported rift with the governor escalated on Monday when he took a public swipe at her for being neutral in the state’s Republican presidential caucus. Reynolds is popular among Republicans in Iowa, but the quarrel can only factor into voters’ decisions if it shows up on their radar.
MONTANA GOP SENATE CANDIDATE WINS RUBIO ENDORSEMENT IN BID TO UNSEAT JON TESTER
“I love Iowa, protected & expanded Ethanol, got 28 Billion Dollars from China for our great Farmers, ended the Estate (Death!) Tax on farms, made the best TRADE deals in history (USMCA, China, & many more), introduced the World to our FARMERS, & kept Iowa’s “First in the Nation” status. I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!” Trump wrote.
Later, several presidential candidates and Iowa politicians shared their support of the governor in apparent acknowledgment of Trump’s post.
Some say Trump’s decision to turn against a popular Iowa Republican will affect him negatively among GOP voters.
“Absolutely. It will,” said Cody Hoefert, former co-chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa from 2014 to 2021. “Republican voters in Iowa understand the positive things, conservative-wise, that Gov. Reynolds has done since she was first elected. And so she has a high popularity rating, a high favorability rating among Iowa Republicans, specifically.”
“I think it’s an unforced error by the former president to go after a governor that’s as popular as governor Reynolds is,” he added.
According to Hoefert, the loyalty of Trump supporters won’t be enough to turn them against such a popular home-state politician. “I don’t think that’s gonna happen. And the reason that’s not gonna happen is the governor has a strong conservative record to run on in Iowa,” he said.
He further suggested that polling of Republican voters in the state will reflect negatively on Trump because of the move.
Popular Iowa talk show host Steve Deace claimed that “insulting [Reynolds] is frankly one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen in the history of the Iowa caucuses.”
According to Deace, if Trump chooses to escalate his attack on the governor, he will hurt his support in the state. “It’s an unwinnable fight. She is more popular than either him or [Gov. Ron] DeSantis [R-FL],” he said of Reynolds.
Deace isn’t positive that the story will necessarily reach Republican voters, but if it ultimately does, “whoever hears about this will not be happy.”
“How many people will hear about it? I don’t know the answer to that,” he continued.
Johnson County GOP Chairwoman Teresa Horton Bumgarner hadn’t heard of the feud when asked, but she said, “I would prefer that there is not a rift between any of the candidates and our governor. I think we have a wonderful governor, and I think that’s, you know, too bad.”
Bumgarner couldn’t predict how her fellow county Republicans might be affected by the development, but she expressed doubt that it would factor heavily into their decisions, as they are “free thinkers.”
She added that “it’s gonna take some time to see how this falls out, and it’s actually very disappointing that it happened, you know. It’s just too bad that it happened.”
According to Story County GOP Chairman and Nevada, Iowa, Mayor Brett Barker, the story will likely appear in local news for a while. “A lot of it probably will blow over, but at the same time, I also don’t see how it can be helpful to be critical about a very successful popular governor who really does, you know — it’s really her party in Iowa,” he said.
“She has a lot of respect across all segments of the party and has been very, very successful. You know, the state of Iowa has trended very Republican under her leadership. And so, you know, I don’t really see an upside to criticizing her before the caucus,” Barker added.
He does see a downside, however. But he isn’t quite sure just how much it might hurt Trump’s support.
Despite predictions to the contrary, some don’t think the move by Trump will turn off voters.
Warren County GOP Chairman Steve Kirby hadn’t heard of the tensions when approached by the Washington Examiner. In his opinion, however, “any true Trump supporter is not going to be turned off by that.”
“There seems like there’s always this, you know, infighting that goes on from time to time in political campaigns,” he explained.
Pollster Doug Usher further suggested the attack on Reynolds could work in Trump’s favor.
Trump’s success, he explained, has been “not just in spite of, but perhaps because he has feuded with people who were deemed to be incredibly popular Republican politicians, whether it’s the Bush family or John McCain or others.”
He added that Trump’s history of intraparty spats has actually expanded his base.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“In Iowa traditionally, the incumbent politicians and popular politicians have been kingmakers,” Usher conceded.
However, he noted that “Trump marches to his own tune within the Republican Party. And so I would say it seems unlikely that that will hurt him in the state.”
