Trump Met By Large Crowd, Chants Of ‘U-S-A’ In Visit To Iowa-Iowa State Game

 Former President Donald Trump attended the annual Iowa-Iowa State rivalry football game on Saturday, where security wedged Trump through large crowds of fans chanting “U-S-A.”

Trump, the current frontrunner in the GOP presidential primary, attended the game along with a number of fellow primary contenders: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, according to The Hill.

While the other candidates tended toward more intimate settings to interact with fans – such as hanging out at pregame tailgates and sitting among fans during the game – Trump watched the game in a suite with major GOP donor and casino kingpin Gary Kirke. The former president also entertained other important figures in Iowa who filtered through the suite throughout the game, according to the Associated Press.

Iowans who attended the rivalry game and sat near Trump’s box alternately cheered and booed the former president during the game.

Some influential Iowans, such as Republican Governor Kim Reynolds and social conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats, have expressed doubt about Trump’s chances of winning the Iowa GOP primary. The former president has lagged behind other candidates in participating in the face-to-face retail politicking the Iowa primary is traditionally known for. Trump, however, currently leads the primary field by roughly 28 points, according to Real Clear Politics polling average.

Before the rivalry game, Trump participated in some retail politicking with members of Iowa State’s Alpha Gamma Ro agriculture fraternity. The former president flipped burgers and signed footballs to the cheers of hundreds of Iowa State students, according to the AP.

Trump’s visit to Iowa, his seventh of the primary, came after a Friday stopover in South Dakota, where he received the endorsement of Governor Kristi Noem. Noem, who gained national attention for her governance of the COVID pandemic, is reportedly a favored pick to run as Trump’s vice president if he wins the GOP nomination.

 

“He is the leader, the fighter that our country needs. He has my full and complete endorsement for President of the United States of America. I will do everything I can to help him win and save this country,” Noem said at a joint rally with Trump in Rapid City.

DeSantis is Trump’s top competition in the GOP primary, and the Florida governor’s campaign and allies are devoting much of their resources to knocking the former president out of first in the early primary states. The DeSantis campaign has expressed optimism in overcoming Trump in Iowa, and the governor is in the middle of an extensive ground tour that his campaign says will take him to every one of Iowa’s 99 counties.

Ramaswamy and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley edged up in the most recent poll of Iowa voters, drawing 9% and 10% support, respectively, in an Iowa State/Civiqs poll released on Friday.