Former President Donald Trump‘s recent public spat with Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) over her neutrality in the Republican presidential primary race is but another sign of Trump’s willingness to battle with popular GOP governors, even when it may not be advantageous to his political ambitions.
Earlier this month Trump took to the social media platform Truth Social to first tout his efforts to protect Iowa’s first-place status in the nominating calendar and then to denigrate Reynolds. “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,” he wrote.
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“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!” he continued.
His fury with Reynolds only led to not only his 2024 rivals rallying around the Iowa governor but even other Republican lawmakers defended her. Yet political experts said Trump’s feud with Reynolds will likely not hurt him in the primary, although it could hurt him in the general election should he become the GOP’s next standard-bearer.
“A lot of people love Trump because he fought for us and I personally want the Trump from 2016 who fought for others, who stood for parental rights, Back the Blue, held China accountable, didn’t engage in useless wars, and the list goes on,” said Mehek Cooke, a Republican strategist based in Ohio.
“Where Trump is going to have difficulty is, again, it’s that middle suburban moms that are truly looking for somebody different that is going to unify the party because they’re terrified about what’s happening to their parental rights,” Cooke added. “They’re terrified about what’s happening to their pocketbooks. They’re terrified about what’s happening to our economy.”
In addition to Reynolds, Trump’s campaign is reportedly frustrated with Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders (R-AR), who has not endorsed Trump during the primary despite having been a White House press secretary for him. This is likely infuriating Trump, who demands loyalty from those he has supported in the past, said J. Miles Coleman, associate editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
“If we know one thing about him is that he values loyalty,” Coleman said. “It’s pretty easy to see how they’d be frustrated with people like Sarah Huckabee Sanders, with [Gov. Ron] DeSantis because you could probably make a decent argument that he got them into their offices, and he feels a little frustrated that they’re not ready to reciprocate.”
The former president’s willingness to bicker with Republican governors didn’t start during his current White House bid. Trump previously feuded with Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) over Kemp’s refusal to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and attempted to force Kemp out of office by endorsing a primary challenger, former Georgia Sen. David Perdue, during the governor’s 2022 reelection bid. Kemp soundly defeated Perdue during the primary and won reelection when he defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams. It didn’t help Kemp’s relationship with Trump that his former running mate, Mike Pence, campaigned with Kemp in 2022.
This week Kemp announced he wouldn’t run for president, and he warned that Trump and other 2024 hopefuls needed to move away from the past and focus on the future if they want to defeat President Joe Biden in 2024. On Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud in 2020, Kemp told CNN host Kaitlan Collins: “If he continues to do that, he’s going to lose Georgia in November.”
“If you feel like the election was stolen — I know there’s people that are out there that do, there’s others that, you know, don’t, but it doesn’t really matter. The people want to know what you’re going to do,” Kemp added.
Trump pressured him to overturn the election, call a special session (even though he couldn’t), said he was ashamed he’d ever endorsed him and blasted him as “hapless.” But Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says he’ll still work to get the GOP nominee elected, even if it’s Trump. pic.twitter.com/A1LYYMbM9n
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) July 18, 2023
Gov. Mike DeWine (R-OH) is another governor to feel the wrath of Trump after he criticized him for his involvement during the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. He won his reelection bid in 2022 despite Trump not endorsing him until after the primary.
Another lawmaker Trump has had a complicated relationship with: Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA).
Youngkin instantly became a rising star in the GOP when he defeated Democrat Terry McAuliffe in Virginia’s 2021 gubernatorial race, handing Republicans the governor’s mansion for the first time since 2009. But during his campaign, Youngkin kept an arms-length distance from Trump. The two men did not campaign together, but Trump did participate in a telephone call praising Youngkin.
A year after the governor’s race and amid rumors of a presidential campaign, the former president slammed Youngkin on Truth Social. “Young Kin (now that’s an interesting take. Sounds Chinese, doesn’t it?) in Virginia couldn’t have won without me. I Endorsed him, did a very big Trump Rally for him telephonically, got MAGA to Vote for him – or he couldn’t have come close to winning,” Trump wrote. “But he knows that, and admits it. Besides, having a hard time with the Dems in Virginia — But he’ll get it done!”
Youngkin could become a 2024 candidate, depending on how well Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) does in his own bid to defeat Trump. Trump endorsed DeSantis’s 2018 gubernatorial win but has consistently trashed DeSantis for his disloyalty now that they are 2024 rivals.
David Stein, a Smith County, Texas GOP chairman, said he wasn’t “favorable” toward Trump’s battles with Republican governors. “It may be good for him. But I don’t think it is good nationally,” Stein said. “I don’t think he’s gaining any votes by attacking them. And I think it causes further separation, which I don’t think that we need in the party.”
“He has a great track record. You know, run on that. How can you argue with a track record of success that he had?” he added. But Stein also made it clear he would support Trump if he did become the Republican nominee. “If he is the candidate in 2024, am I going to support him over a Democrat? Absolutely.”
A Trump campaign spokesman pushed back against assertions that Trump’s battles with GOP governors could possibly hurt his campaign.
“President Trump is the overwhelming front-runner in every single state, including Iowa, Georgia, and Ohio. The fact is that President Trump will be the nominee and will beat Crooked Joe Biden because he’s the only person who can supercharge the economy, secure our border, safeguard communities, and put an end to unnecessary wars,” Steven Cheung said in a statement to the Washington Examiner. “Americans want to return to a prosperous nation, and there’s only one person who can do that — President Trump. That’s why he has overwhelming leads in every single poll — both nationally and statewide.
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Trump has led national polls over all his 2024 rivals. He currently polls at 52.5%, according to the RealClearPolitics polling average. His next closest competitor, DeSantis, is more than 30 percentage points behind Trump at 20.8%. Despite his ongoing legal problems and even his anger with Republican governors, he remains the current front-runner in the Republican presidential race, a sign that primary voters won’t abandon him nor that he will let up on his squabbles.
“For Trump voters, it’s almost baked into their expectations that he’s gonna pick these types of fights. That’s just how he is,” said Coleman, editor at UVA’s Center for Politics.
