In every presidential race, leading contenders go out of their way to impress and flatter their party’s leading officials in Iowa. There’s no great mystery about the strategy: Iowa has been home to the first presidential nominating contest in both parties for several decades, and those who hope to compete seek out the support of the Hawkeye State’s most powerful voices.
At least, that’s how the process usually goes. With six months remaining before Iowa’s 2024 caucuses, Donald Trump appears to have settled on a different approach.
Take Sen. Joni Ernst, for example. The Republican lawmaker recently hosted a “Roast and Ride” event, which the former president skipped. The New York Times reported, however, that Trump’s campaign nevertheless expressed an interest in sending pre-recorded remarks, leading Ernst’s team to rent large screens to show attendees the former president’s comments.
Trump ended up not sending a video, leaving the senator’s operation to cover the cost of the equipment. The same report added, “Ms. Ernst’s team had planned on using the chance to win a motorcycle helmet signed by all of the Republican candidates as a lure to sell tickets to the ‘Roast and Ride.’ They sent the helmet to Mr. Trump, who returned it later than expected and had added the numbers ‘45’ and ‘47,’ signaling he would be the 47th president, the role everyone else is also running for, according to two people with knowledge of the episode. They never used the helmet.”
But while the former president has failed to earn his way into Ernst’s good graces, his conflicts with Iowa’s GOP governor are even less subtle. NBC News reported:
Former President Donald Trump denounced Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds on Monday for declining to endorse a candidate in the still nascent GOP primary. In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump suggested that Reynolds is tacitly supporting former Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the primary, even as she remains nominally neutral.
One of the first public signs of trouble came in early June, when Trump campaigned in Iowa and insisted that Reynolds “was not going to win” a second term without his support. It wasn’t altogether clear how he arrived at this conclusion.
But yesterday on his social media platform, he went much further, apparently trying to bully the governor into submission.
“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,” the former president wrote. “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!”
To the extent that reality has much of an impact on a story like this, much of Trump’s missive was absurd. He did not end the estate tax; he did not get $28 billion from China for farmers; and he did not rescue Reynolds’ candidacy. (She won 95 of Iowa’s 99 counties, and would’ve prevailed without his backing.) But as notable as the relevant details are, the point of his tantrum is worth appreciating: Iowa’s governor is making the rather obvious decision not to endorse any candidates ahead of her state’s highly competitive, multi-candidate presidential caucuses, and Trump sees this as an unforgiveable betrayal. Former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who served as Trump’s ambassador to China, told the Times, “Trump has got to get over it. He’s got to get over the jealousy and resentment.” To which the former president has effectively responded, “No.”
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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