Gloves off, mittens on as Trump rivals go on attack in snowy Iowa
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[January 09, 2024]
By Gram Slattery and James Oliphant
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (Reuters) -With just one week to go before the first
contest of the Republican presidential nominating process, the top three
contenders are intensifying attacks on one another as they bid to be the
one who takes on President Joe Biden in November's election.
For much of the campaign, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former
United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley shied away from criticizing the
clear frontrunner, former President Donald Trump, unless prompted by an
audience question.
They also went after each other somewhat sparingly in conversations with
voters, preferring to dedicate their stump speeches to their own
personal and professional biographies.
But the tone has shifted as they blitz the snowy plains of Iowa in the
final stretch before the state's first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan.
15.
At a packed sports bar outside Des Moines on Sunday, DeSantis, who has
staked a huge amount on a strong performance in the state, brought up
Haley multiple times unprompted, while also taking jabs at Trump,
suggesting the former president would resort to dirty tricks on the
night of the caucuses.
DeSantis and Haley are essentially tied for second place in Iowa, while
Trump holds a sizeable lead, according to most polls.
DeSantis said that, if elected, he would defund the United Nations, as
he taps into a conservative voter base that is skeptical of multilateral
institutions.
"That's a contrast in this race because Trump funded it gladly all four
years. And Haley was in the United Nations!" he said.
In an interview with KCSJ Radio in Sioux City on Monday, Haley bashed
Trump for fomenting "chaos," a line of attack she repeated at an evening
town hall hosted by Fox News.
"Rightly or wrongly, chaos follows him," she said at the event in Des
Moines. She later added that Trump "broke" many things in Washington
during his time in office, but "he never fixed it."
Trump has been taking fiercer swipes at Haley, who has risen in the
polls in New Hampshire, the second state to hold a nominating contest,
with its primary slated for Jan. 23.
In a swing through Iowa on Friday and Saturday, he attacked Haley both
on policy grounds and for her popularity among some big-dollar donors.
The candidates' allies have followed suit.
Haley's supporters at SFA Fund - a super PAC that can raise and spend
unlimited sums so long as it doesn't coordinate with the campaign - have
spent more than $4 million since Jan. 1 on ads opposing DeSantis,
according to disclosures it has filed to the Federal Election
Commission.
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Jeff Kauffman, chairman of the Republican Party of Iowa, speaks
during the Republican Party of Iowa legislative breakfast at the
Hilton Des Moines Downtown, in Des Moines, Iowa, U.S. January 8,
2024. REUTERS/Alyssa Pointer
Trump allies at the Make America Great Again super PAC have spent
more than $2 million during the same period attacking Haley through
television ads and mailings. Two super PACs allied with DeSantis
have spent more than $1 million so far this year on ads and mailing
opposing both Haley and Trump.
In other news from the trail:
FROZEN IOWA
Disruptions from storms are a staple of the Iowa caucuses, but the
winter blast hitting the state this week comes at a particularly bad
time for the candidates trying to catch Trump.
Haley was forced to cancel an event on Monday in western Iowa, where
snow was already beginning to fall. Campaign staff could be seen
turning away potential caucus-goers, several of them visibly
disappointed, at the door of a small restaurant in Sioux City.
DeSantis had already decamped to his home state of Florida, where he
will address the legislature on Tuesday. A looming question is when
he will be able to get back and whether anyone be able to come see
him.
The storm is expected to dump a foot of snow in some parts of Iowa
with high winds and heavy drifts. Iowans are used to dealing with
snow - dressing in layers and driving trucks with four-wheel drives
- but the inclement conditions may test their resolve to come out
and see a candidate one more time.
Several high-profile attendees due to appear at Trump events have
also had to cancel due to the bad weather.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee - who won the Iowa caucuses
as a presidential candidate in 2008 - said he and his daughter, the
current Arkansas governor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, would not be able
to make it to Iowa on Monday as scheduled.
Comedian Roseanne Barr, whose racist tweet led to the revival of the
popular sitcom "Roseanne" being canceled in 2018, will not join the
campaign in Iowa on Tuesday due to the bad weather, Trump's campaign
said.
The already chilly Iowa weather is expected to take a turn for the
frigid in coming days, with night-time temperatures forecast to
approach -10 Fahrenheit (-23 Celsius) later in the week.
(Reporting by James Oliphant, Gram Slattery, Jason Lange, Nathan
Layne and Costas Pitas; Editing by Colleen Jenkins, Deepa Babington
and Michael Perry)
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