BOONE, Iowa (AP) - The Latest on Vice President Mike Pence’s visit to Iowa for Sen. Joni Ernst’s fundraiser (all times local):
6:25 p.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is reassuring Iowa conservatives that President Donald Trump will deliver on his campaign promises to boost the economy.
Some of the state’s conservatives have been cool to Trump and complain that they have yet to see a conservative agenda from the White House.
Pence on Saturday attended an annual fundraiser hosted by one of Iowa’s two Republican senators, Joni Ernst.
In his remarks, the vice president promoted low unemployment and the economy’s overall health - and attributed both to Trump’s efforts.
Pence also praised Trump for pulling out of the international agreement on climate change.
Iowa voters supported Trump in the November election by 9 percentage points. In the two previous elections, Democrat Barack Obama won the state.
___
4:20 p.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is reassuring the Iowa Christian conservatives that have been cool to the new administration that President Donald Trump will deliver on his campaign promises to boost the economy.
Pence on Saturday rolled up to the rally on a motorcycle for Sen. Joni Ernst’s summer “Roast and Ride” fundraiser declaring, “It is great to be back on a Harley.”
He referenced the confirmation of Trump’s nominee, Neil Gorsuch, to the Supreme Court and generated applause reviewing Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord. He said it’s “great to have a president who is more concerned with Des Moines than Denmark.” He said Trump will deliver the tax cuts he promised and repeal of President Barack Obama’s health care law.
The vice president thanked Ernst for the “motorcycle lesson.”
___
2:44 p.m.
More than 500 Harley Davidsons rumbled on to the sun-drenched Central Iowa Expo Saturday, as Iowa Republicans gathered to raise money for Sen. Joni Ernst and hear from the vice president.
The riders rolled past a stage backed by towering, metal grain bins, draped in American and Iowa flags.
“Rev your engines if you love Joni Ernst,” Iowa GOP Chairman Jeff Kauffman shouted from the stage, prompting a roar from the motorcyclists.
___
11:57 a.m.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is leading a procession of motorcycle riders through central Iowa to her annual summer fundraising barbecue, where Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled to speak.
South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott was one of the roughly 500 Harley Davidson riders joining Ernst on the 50-mile ride through central Iowa’s scenic Des Moines River valley to Boone.
Pence wasn’t expected in Iowa until Saturday afternoon.
___
11:30 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is heading to Iowa to buck up the influential Christian right in that state. But it seems to be his boss who has work to do to satisfy the disproportionately powerful group there.
President Donald Trump won Iowa by 9 percentage points in 2016, after Democrat Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 and 2012.
Retired nurse Kay Quirk says she’s still waiting “to see a conservative agenda put forward.” She and other Iowa conservatives say they’re bothered that Trump hasn’t delivered on the promise to repeal Obama’s health care law.
And Pastor Mike Demastus said Trump hasn’t “moved the needle one notch” on moral issues. He’s disappointed by the president’s decision to keep U.S. Embassy in Israel in Tel Aviv, for now, rather than moving it to Jerusalem, as Trump promised during his 2016 campaign.
___
1:30 a.m.
Vice President Mike Pence is trying to solidify the Republican base in Iowa, where some conservatives are cool to President Donald Trump and party leaders say he’s being undermined from within.
Headlining Sen. Joni Ernst’s annual summer fundraiser, Pence will promote steady job numbers under Trump, who campaigned last year on promises of economic growth.
But it’s Pence’s boss who has more work to do to satisfy Iowa’s disproportionately influential Christian right, despite carrying Iowa in the 2016 election after Democrat Barack Obama won there in 2008 and 2012.
The vast majority of Iowa Republicans approve of the job Trump is doing. However, some emerging Republican national prospects have accepted invitations from party leaders this year to visit Iowa, host of the leadoff presidential nominating caucuses.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.