DES MOINES, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump canceled all however one in-person marketing campaign occasion within the lead-up to Monday’s Iowa caucuses as a blizzard whips the state.
Trump’s marketing campaign mentioned Friday that the choice was made out of “an abundance of caution amid severe weather advisories.” Iowa has been pummeled by heavy snow, excessive winds and plunging temperatures since early Friday, derailing the ultimate leg of the marketing campaign. Temperatures are anticipated to dip under zero into Monday, making a life-threatening deep freeze that might forestall individuals from touring to caucus websites.
Trump, who had 4 rallies slated for this weekend, as an alternative will likely be holding phone city halls with voters he hopes will caucus for him. His marketing campaign seems to nonetheless be holding one in-person rally in Indianola on Sunday.
In a video, Trump claimed he was nonetheless going to be in Iowa. “Saturday night or something. One way or the other, I’m getting there. You have the worst weather, I guess, in recorded history … nobody knows how exactly we’re going to get there, but we’re going to figure it out.”
The actuality is that Trump doesn’t have to be bodily current in Iowa a lot to nonetheless win the caucuses, the primary time voters will weigh in on his candidacy since he left the Oval Office in 2021 and has racked up a litany of authorized woes. Polls have him at roughly 50% assist, and the previous president is unlikely to jeopardize his standing by canceling his get-out-the-vote occasions.
Trump’s absence might be one thing his high GOP rivals, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, received’t let him overlook. DeSantis and Haley are scrambling for second place and are nonetheless slated to carry occasions throughout the state on Saturday and Sunday. But the campaigns are additionally trying past Iowa already to the nominating contests in New Hampshire and South Carolina.
The terrible climate may preserve voters house on Monday, particularly in rural areas the place roads aren’t satisfactory and the upcoming deep freeze could possibly be catastrophic. Monday’s caucus day is anticipated to be the coldest in trendy historical past.
