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Trump says Lincoln should have ‘negotiated’ Civil War
Speaking at a campaign event in Newton, Iowa, Trump offered a take on the Civil War.
“The Civil War was so fascinating. So horrible. It was so horrible. Was so fascinating — I’m just so attracted to seeing it — so many mistakes were made. I think you could have negotiated that. I thought, ‘This was something that could have been negotiated,” Trump said. “But I think it’s you know, Abraham Lincoln, of course if you negotiated it, you probably wouldn’t even know who Abraham Lincoln was.”
Haley continues Trump criticism
Haley for the second time today directly called out Trump for not debating, saying “Why doesn’t he answer the question (on if Haley raised taxes). Oh, that’s right. He won’t debate me. That’s why.”
In a slight pivot, Haley delivered a shorter stump speech than usual, but hit her key talking points including government spending and China. Instead of taking questions, she took photos and met one-on-one with attendees.
DeSantis asked about Jan. 6 rioters who are ‘detainees’
On the day of the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, DeSantis was asked by a member of the audience at his second event of the day about “due process” for Jan. 6 “detainees.”
Earlier this week, DeSantis told our Dasha Burns that “I’ve not had a single question in Iowa, about January 6” — not only was this the first question posed during this stop’s Q&A session, he was also asked about Jan. 6th on a call-in radio show just yesterday.
“So, look, anybody that is denied due process, I mean that’s a constitutional violation,” DeSantis said. “If you look at the Department of Justice, if you look at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IRS, these agencies have become hyper-politicized and they’re wielding their power disproportionately against people they don’t like. I think it’s a very broad problem.”
Trump compares Democrats to China
Speaking at a campaign rally in Newton, Iowa, Trump compared Democrats to the Chinese.
“These people are more dangerous than the so-called enemy in China,” Trump said.
Ramaswamy calls for more defense spending
Ramaswamy, who has long promised to tackle the national debt crisis, said he would increase military spending during a town hall in Clarence, Iowa.
“I actually think we need to spend a little bit more on our military, but we need to spend it in the right way,” said Ramaswamy to a crowd of about 40 Iowans. Ramaswamy went on to say that the areas he would spend on are military presence on the southern and northern borders, as well as protection against EMP attacks.
Where is Hutchinson today?
Hutchinson has one event on the calendar in Iowa today: a 6 p.m. CT meet-and-greet in Waterloo.
Trump responds to Biden’s democracy speech
Speaking to a group of young people in Des Moines, Iowa, Trump responded to Biden’s speech yesterday in which he called the former president a threat to American democracy.
“He can’t put two sentences together. He can’t speak,” Trump said. “He can, although yesterday he tried to play tough guy, you know, ‘I’m a threat to democracy.’ He’s a threat to democracy because he’s incompetent.”
Voter Voices: After voting twice for Trump, Republican opts for Haley
Republican Joe Pendergast, 70, of Des Moines, voted for Trump in the past two general elections but has decided to caucus for Haley due to the “chaos” the former president causes.
“It just got to be to the point where it was so detrimental, that it wasn’t worth it. And as a Trump supporter, having to defend some of those stupid things he said — I couldn’t do it anymore,” he told NBC News at a Haley town hall in Indianola, Iowa, on Saturday.
He says his Trump-supporting friends now think of him as a “traitor,” but that doesn’t stop him from engaging with them.
“I love a good argument. I just hate that we can’t discuss it and walk away OK. That’s what I don’t like,” Pendergast said. “I don’t like that it is so polarizing that we can’t even have a political discussion.”
Where is Trump today?
After making an unscheduled appearance in Des Moines, Trump has two rallies today in Iowa. The first is at 1 p.m. CT in Newton and the second is at 4 p.m. CT in Clinton.
Haley criticizes Trump for not debating
INDIANOLA, Iowa — Haley directly called out Trump today for not participating in Republican presidential primary debates, accusing him of “acting like Biden.”
While pushing back on negative ads from the Trump campaign and its aligned super PAC at a town hall in Indianola, Iowa, Haley said, “Why don’t we ask [Trump] to stop acting like Biden and hide and get on a debate stage and answer the question of why he proposed a 25 cent gas tax increase on all of us in 2018?”
With just nine days until the Iowa caucuses, Haley has stepped up her criticism of Trump — but made it clear later in her town hall this morning that she plans only to do so when the former president “lies about” her or has “done something wrong.”
“For those that want me to hit Trump more, I just am not going to do it,” she said to audience applause, adding politics is not “personal” for her.
Trump makes unscheduled stop at Gen Z political event
Trump is currently speaking at a gathering of young Republicans in Des Moines at an event sponsored by Run Gen Z, a group that recruits young people to run for office.
DeSantis points to mental health as school shootings cause
DUBUQUE, Iowa — DeSantis harped on mental health and “gender ideology” as the reason behind the shooting at Perry High School earlier this week.
When a reporter pushed back in a gaggle following the event, DeSantis stood by his comments saying “this is a relatively new phenomenon where you’ve had shootings with folks of this profile.”
Earlier during the event, DeSantis said the left uses “mental health stuff to advance the woke agenda” and that kids used to bring rifles to school years ago, adding that, “we have issues with society that’s leading to some of this.”
DeSantis also responded to comments Trump made at a rally last night saying families in Perry have to “get over it” and “move forward,” to which DeSantis responded, “I wouldn’t tell them that they should just get over it because it’s tough.”
Where is Haley today?
Haley has three events in Iowa today. The first was at 9 a.m. CT in Indianola. The second is at 12:30 p.m. CT in North Liberty. And the final event is at 3 p.m. CT in Bettendorf.
Apoorva Ramaswamy tears up talking about Covid
DAVENPORT, Iowa — Reflecting on her time apart from her newborn son while working as a doctor on the front lines of the Covid pandemic in New York City back in 2020, Apoorva Ramaswamy was in tears at a campaign event this morning.
“It’s always hard after you have a baby. But it’s especially hard when you’re having to ship your breast milk to, for two months to a different state,” she said. Her son was living in Ohio while she was battling the pandemic in New York.
The way Apoorva Ramaswamy reflects on the pandemic stands in stark contrast to her husband and the rest of the GOP presidential hopefuls who define Covid solely as an era of government overreach.
DeSantis says he would never be Haley’s running mate
DeSantis joined Fox News’ Neil Cavuto this morning where he characterized himself as the “underdog” in Iowa ahead of the caucuses.
Asked about Haley telling NBC News that she would consider him for a running mate, DeSantis said he would never agree to the job.
“I am not going to accept that under any circumstances,” he said.
He expressed concerns that if Trump is the Republican nominee, his campaign would be “subsumed with legal issues, criminal trials, and Jan. 6,” the latter of which DeSantis said “has proven effective with a certain subclass of voters that you need to win to be able to win a general election.”
DeSantis said the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol is not an issue for Republican voters.
“At some point, we are going to move on and focus on the people’s issues, because I can tell you here in Iowa when I’m taking questions, when I’m in New Hampshire doing town halls in these other states, this is not on top of mind for voters,” he said.
Where is DeSantis today?
DeSantis will hold five events in Iowa today. He started the day in Dubuque at 9 a.m. CT followed by an 10:45 a.m. CT event in Davenport. He’ll hold another event in Cedar Rapids at 1:45 p.m. CT and then will drop by a field office in the city. He’ll end the day in Ankeny with a 5:15 p.m. CT event.
DeSantis nails question on Iowa basketball star
DeSantis scored an easy point with Iowans this morning at a campaign stop in Dubuque when asked by a woman in the crowd if he could name the University of Iowa basketball star Caitlin Clark.
“With all due respect to Ms. Collins,” DeSantis said, referring to the CNN anchor Kaitlin Collins, whom Nikki Haley mistakenly named instead of the senior guard, “if I need a buzzer-beater made I’m going with Clark over Collins.”
During a televised town hall with Collins earlier this week, DeSantis indirectly mocked Haley for the misstep, gifting the anchor a University of Iowa T-shirt bearing Clark’s last name and jersey number.
Yesterday, Ramaswamy had trouble naming Clark when asked the same question at a campaign stop in Maquoketa, Iowa, drawing gasps from the crowd.
Ramaswamy doesn’t know star Iowa basketball player
Ramaswamy was asked on Friday to name the record-setting Iowa basketball player. He couldn’t name Caitlin Clark, who shot to national prominence last year as the team made a run to the finals of the NCAA tournament.
Haley got dinged for flubbing Clark’s name while campaigning in the state last month.
Where is Ramaswamy today?
Ramaswamy is holding five campaign events in Iowa today. He started the day in Davenport at 9 a.m. CT. He will hold an 11:45 p.m. CT town hall in Clarence followed by another in Washington at 1:15 p.m. CT. Then he’ll head to Marengo for a 4:30 p.m. CT town hall and conclude the day with a rally in Cedar Rapids at 7 p.m. CT.
Right-wing provocateur Laura Loomer rode Trump’s plane in Iowa
Laura Loomer, the right-wing provocateur and Trump loyalist who is a lead propagator of Jan. 6 conspiracy theories rode with Trump aboard his plane yesterday in Iowa to campaign in the state, per a source familiar with the arrangement.
In a post this morning, Loomer continued to push her vast web of conspiracy theories about the Capitol attack, claiming it to be an “inside job” to keep Trump from the White House.
Loomer, in her post this morning, wrote: “Personally, I think J6 should be a national holiday in which we celebrate the bravery of American patriots who protested a stolen election.”
Johnson invites Biden to give state of the union two days after Super Tuesday
House Speaker Mike Johnson has invited President Joe Biden to deliver his State of the Union address before a joint session of Congress on March 7.
“In this moment of great challenge for our country, it is my solemn duty to extend this invitation for you to address a Joint Session of Congress on Thursday, March 7, 2024, so that you may fulfill your obligation under the U.S. Constitution to report on the state of our union,” Johnson wrote in a letter to the president that he posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
The speech will fall two days after the Super Tuesday vote in the presidential primary, when more than a dozen states will cast ballots in the nominating contest. With minimal opposition in the primary, Biden is expected to be close to formally securing the nomination for re-election by that point.
Read the full story here.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer booted from Haley event
Far-right provocateur Laura Loomer was escorted out of a Haley event in Indianola, Iowa, by security before the event started.
She was talking back and forth with security for a while before eventually agreeing to leave, but it happened pretty dramatically.
Haley held an event with New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu.
Ramaswamy says he wouldn’t support Trump if he makes Haley the VP nominee
For Ramaswamy, it appears his contempt for Haley outweighs his love for Trump.
“I’ve said that he would have my full support, but that’s on the expectation that he wouldn’t do something disastrous for this country like making Nikki Haley’s vice president,” said Ramaswamy after a town hall in Dubuque, Iowa, on Friday night.
“If I’m not the nominee, and Donald Trump is, I have said that he would have my absolute support, but that is assuming that it is still the same individual Donald Trump that’s actually running on the platform and vision for this country,” said Ramaswamy.
It’s the first time he’s suggested conditions on his enthusiastic support for Trump.
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