MASON CITY, Iowa–Former president Donald Trump shifted his campaign-trail message on Friday as he cast his two distant Republican challengers as “establishment politicians.” And he said Iowans cannot trust them to correct the problematic policies that his successor, Democrat President Joe Biden, adopted.
“I am the only candidate in this race who is up to the task of saving America from every single Biden disaster,” President Trump said at the North Iowa Events Center, where police estimated the near-capacity audience at 2,600.The former president declared that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former U.N. ambassador Nikki Haley, “and the rest of the pack will never be able to do what I do” to shut down record-breaking illegal immigration.
“The establishment losers and sellouts lagging far behind us in the Republican primary cannot be trusted on taxes, trade, or anything else,” he said, warning: “They’ll betray you just like they betrayed me.”
Mrs. Haley ran against him after promising she wouldn’t. Similarly, President Trump endorsed Mr. DeSantis and helped him become governor, then turned around and disrespected that favor, President Trump has said, by becoming his political adversary.
President Trump’s latest speech marked an effort to further set himself apart from Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis before voters decide which candidate to support at the first-in-nation caucuses on Jan. 15.
Although the DeSantis campaign did not respond, the Haley campaign issued a statement Saturday morning, accusing the former president of making “false attacks.”
“Donald Trump probably doesn’t remember that Nikki Haley passed one of the toughest anti-illegal immigration laws in the country in 2011, because he was still a New York City liberal,” Ms. Haley’s communications director Nachama Soloveichik said in a statement.
Her campaign also called upon him to “stop hiding” and defend his statements during the next GOP debate in Des Moines. The former president has skipped four previous debates with Ms. Haley and other Republican challengers, and intends to do the same again. He is scheduled to participate in a Fox News town hall forum on Jan. 10 in Des Moines while CNN sponsors a debate between the only two candidates who qualified to participate: Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis.
While Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis have both held multiple political offices, President Trump was a political outsider—a New York real estate mogul—before he sought the presidency in 2015.
After winning the 2016 election, President Trump made an unsuccessful reelection bid in 2020 in an election that many dispute as “rigged” or “stolen” to this day.
Now, as he makes his third presidential run and also faces 91 criminal charges, President Trump has recruited allies to assist in his full-court press, sometimes making multiple appearances in a single day. On Friday, President Trump spoke in western Iowa, in Sioux Center, before traveling to northern Iowa for the Mason City speech. On Saturday, he is slated for campaign stops in Newton and Clinton.
On Friday, President Trump was especially critical of Ms.Haley.
He said she “opposed my border wall, she condemned my strong border policies, and in 2016, she stabbed the Republican Party in the back by siding with Barack Hussein Obama” in opposing President Trump’s ban on travelers from terrorist-prone nations, “which kept us safe.”
In addition, he alleged, “Nikki Haley has been in the pocket of the open borders establishment donors her entire career—and now Nikki Haley’s campaign is being funded by Biden donors.”
Ms. Haley’s campaign, however, said her position on those issues was misrepresented.
She supported his travel ban after it was revised to remove any mention of religious affiliation–a possibly unconstitutional restriction.
Further, Ms. Haley’s campaign declared that she “never opposed building a wall.” Rather, she was against relying solely on a wall to stop illegal immigration, her campaign said. Instead, she supported “a comprehensive plan” that included equipment and personnel. Ms. Haley said she has “never supported amnesty” for illegal immigrants.
Throughout his campaign, President Trump has emphasized that the 2024 election is pivotal. He accuses President Biden of destroying America with decisions that weakened the nation’s standing on the world stage, stoked illegal immigration and caused inflation to climb.
Former U.S. President and Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump speaks during a "Commit to Caucus" rally at the North Iowa Events Center in Mason City, Iowa, on Jan. 5, 2024. Christian Monterrosa/AFP via Getty Images
President Trump sees a decisive win in Iowa as a major step toward becoming the Republican nominee and defeating President Biden in the Nov. 5 general election. But he reminded Iowans that just because he is leading in the polls doesn’t mean they should take a Trump victory for granted.
“By delivering a massive victory in Iowa, you will send a thundering message straight to Crooked Joe Biden,” he said.
The crowd was so enthusiastic that, at times, their reactions drowned out some of President Trump’s words, especially when he addressed concerns about immigration, the economy and mandates for electric vehicles and other ineffective yet expensive“green” energy policies.President Trump said every vote for him is “a vote to stop the [illegal immigration] invasion...It’s a vote to reclaim our democracy.”
“The stakes of this election could not be higher,” President Trump said, listing a litany of problems that he blames on President Biden.
“Our borders have been erased. Millions of illegal aliens are invading from all over the world,” he said. “Violent criminals are running wild in Democrat-run cities while law enforcement has been weaponized against Christians, conservatives, and people of faith.”
Foreign affairs are a mess, too, President Trump said. “We have war in Europe, war in the Middle East, China is threatening Taiwan, Iran is inches away from a nuclear bomb...our military has gone ‘woke,’ and we are teetering on the brink of World War III.”
In addition, President Trump said President Biden has weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice to persecute him and other people for political reasons, and “it’s a disgrace to the world.”
President Trump pointed to a young boy in the audience and said he would be superior to the current president. “He’s seven years old; I’d vote for him,” President Trump said as the crowd howled with laughter.
“Joe Biden’s Banana Republic ends on November 5th, 2024. With your help, we are going to bring our country back from hell!”
“We better win this damn election,” President Trump said, “or I’m telling you: This country is finished.”
