Trump takes over Iowa State Fair

Former President Donald J. Trump came to the Iowa State Fair yesterday and, by all accounts, virtually took it over.

Trump in Iowa

The former President announced his plans to attend the Iowa State Fair five days ago. He knew that Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) would also attend the fair, also on Saturday (August 12). Unlike the rest, Trump did not agree to an interview by Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Iowa). (She refuses to endorse any candidate at present.) He did make plans to have several high-profile Republican Members of Congress, including many from Florida, in tow.

The Iowa State Fair set an attendance record yesterday, for which Trump took partial credit. The former President went head-to-head with DeSantis, and by all accounts drew the larger crowds.

At 11:34 a.m. CDT, Trump’s jet overflew the fair, causing many onlookers to look up – ignoring DeSantis. He landed at 11:45 and traveled directly to the fair, where he stayed for an hour and forty-five minutes.

Though he gave no interview time to Gov. Reynolds, the former President did take questions from reporters. Aboard his aircraft, he said he would refuse any plea bargain. “We did nothing wrong,” he said, virtually ending discussion on that point. Earlier, he gave a cryptic answer to a question of whether he “intended to overturn” the Election of 2020.

Separately, Trump boasted of his commanding lead in the polls. That much is true; a Reuters/Ipsos poll on August 3 showed Trump at 47 percent, with DeSantis at 13 percent. The remaining Republican candidates are all in single digits.

DeSantis in trouble

The DeSantis campaign has been in trouble for at least a month. Staff turnovers have plagued it, and allegations of financial ethical lapses have dogged his tracks. His shills on Platform X have lately taken to disputing Trump’s rally sizes to make their candidate look better. In perhaps his biggest faux pas to day, DeSantis flat-out denied that fraud decided the Election of 2020.