Did Trump Make a Huge Mistake? Experts Say It Could Cost Him Big in Key State
In the face of numerous challenges from the left, Donald Trump’s popularity for the Republican nomination remains on an upward trajectory. However, a recent decision to decline participation in a crucial event within an influential state may have significantly complicated matters for him.
An Iowa state senator who’d previously endorsed Donald Trump is flipping his support toRon DeSantis just days after the former president attacked Iowa’s popular Republican governor, Kim Reynolds.
Jeff Reichman, who is serving his first term in the state Senate, announced on Thursday that he is defecting to the Florida governor’s presidential campaign. In a statement, Reichman singled out praise for Reynolds, who Trump has targeted for her warmness toward DeSantis, his main rival for the GOP nomination.
Trump’s attack on Reynolds came on Monday, just after The New York Times published a report detailing the governor’s frequent appearances with the DeSantis campaign. In response, Trump released a statement saying Reynolds, who has pledged she will not officially endorse anyone in the primary, would not be governor if not for him, since he appointed her predecessor, Terry Branstad, to his administration. Trump also noted that he had previously endorsed Reynolds.
“Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL,’ Trump said. “I don’t invite her to events!”
That wasn’t the only mistake Trump made in this state!
Former President Donald Trump skipped an Iowa summit for evangelical Christians where the state’s governor will sign a strict abortion ban on stage Friday. Evangelical voters are an important voting bloc in the first-in-the-nation caucus state, so any Republican who hopes to win the nomination over Trump has to win these voters first.
One path to the evangelical voter? Abortion.
Many evangelicals were in attendance at the forum, a demographic that Trump needs to win in order to stay on top. By failing to show up to this event, he risks appearing as if he doesn’t care about the issues that matter to evangelical voters.
Bob Vander Plaats, president of The Family Leader, spoke about how Trump’s snub could come back to bite him.
“I think that’s a mistake of his because this is a very vital base,” he said. “This is a crucial base to win the Iowa caucuses.”
Vander Plaats added that evangelical voters “don’t like being taken for granted” and that while Iowa is still Trump’s to lose, the state is “tailor-made for him to get beat.”
Top Evangelical Leader tells me it’s a “mistake” for Donald Trump not to attend tomorrow’s big evangelical event in Iowa and says evangelicals will notice. “They don’t like being taken for granted… I think Iowa is tailor made for him to get beat here.” Watch my interview with… pic.twitter.com/6wGq2Dx2Rq
— David Brody (@DBrodyReports) July 13, 2023
Conservative commentator Steve Deace agreed that Trump’s absence from the conference was “a terrible mistake on his part.”
Asked if he faults Trump for not showing up in Iowa, @SteveDeaceShow says "Absolutely! I think it's a terrible mistake on his part!" pic.twitter.com/ChRd7t0x96
— Never Back Down (@NvrBackDown24) July 14, 2023
It seems that Trump may have prematurely assumed victory in the Iowa race, only to realize that the situation is not as straightforward as he anticipated.
However, experts could assume but I’m sure Trump will make a comeback in Iowa and win this state!
Natalie Dagenhardt is an American conservative writer who writes for Right Journalism! Natalie has described herself as a polemicist who likes to “stir up the pot,” and does not “pretend to be impartial or balanced, as broadcasters do,” drawing criticism from the left, and sometimes from the right. As a passionate journalist, she works relentlessly to uncover the corruption happening in Washington. She is a “constitutional conservative”.
