The annual Iowa State-Iowa State football game was overshadowed by a political football game, as former President Donald Trump and Gov. Ron DeSantis competed to score points with Republican voters ahead of the crucial January 2016 caucus. Hawkeye State.
Both 2024 hopefuls gathered at Jack Trice Stadium on Saturday to watch Iowa State University face off against the University of Iowa and showcased a clash of styles.
DeSantis watched the game with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-Ia.), whom Trump publicly criticized earlier this year for being too cozy with his Florida foe.
Reynolds has remained neutral so far, but has accompanied DeSantis in a series of key outings in Iowa, much to Trump’s chagrin.
Trump, meanwhile, watched the game from a private stadium suite, but was seen before the game signing his fans’ baseball caps and tossing a soccer ball to a crowd of supporters.
Before the game, Trump was seen entering the Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house, signing baseball caps, throwing a football to a crowd of supporters and tossing hamburgers in front of cheering reporters and students.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis attended the football game between Iowa State and the University of Iowa in Ames on September 9, 2023. Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
DeSantis takes a selfie with a fan in the stands at the game. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters With
Never Back Down, a super PAC backing DeSantis, removed an online campaign ad criticizing Trump for allowing transgender women to compete in a beauty pageant he previously owned.
In addition, a plane flew over the stadium with a banner that said “Where is Melania?”, criticizing Trump for his wife’s absence from the election campaign.
That banner marked revenge after Trump allies paid for a plane to place a banner over the Iowa State Fair mocking DeSantis, who has regularly been stumped on the campaign trail with his wife Casey and occasionally his children as well.
Former President Donald Trump flipping burgers at Iowa State University’s Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity house before the game. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Trump handed out signed caps and footballs to his supporters during the campaign stop. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
Trump throws a pass to the crowd at the fraternity house. AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
The Trump campaign downplayed the attacks as “desperate attacks.”
Both men drew a mix of boos and hearty cheers at various points throughout their time in the Hawkeye State.
Before the celebrated game, in which the University of Iowa Hawkeyes won 20-13, the Trump campaign attacked NBC over a report. claiming that his allies in Iowa were worried for an anemic operation in the Hawkeye State.
DeSantis watched the game with Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds.Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports
Trump is overwhelmingly ahead in the GOP’s flagship state, with a massive 27.8 percentage point lead over DeSantis, according to the latest aggregate from RealClearPolitics.
Recently, a DeSantis campaign official tried to temper expectations in Iowa, telling Politico that a “strong second place” there would be acceptable.
Annoyed by the distractions of his mounting legal problems, Trump has skipped a handful of livestock viewing events and even clashed with the state’s top politicians.
With four months left, the DeSantis campaign is hoping for an opportunity, having invested heavily in Iowa, the state where Trump lost to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2016.
Other 2024 contenders were also stumped in the area Saturday, including billionaire biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.
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