MAQUOKETA, Iowa — Former President Donald Trump returned to Iowa on Wednesday for the second time in as many weeks, looking to press his advantage in the Republican 2024 presidential primary race and dash any hopes that his rivals would catch him before the caucuses in January.
Mr. Trump said his campaign learned lessons from the 2016 race in Iowa after he finished as the runner-up in the caucuses behind Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas.
“We are going to get out that vote, that caucus vote, which is very important,” Mr. Trump told supporters at the Jackson County Fairgrounds. “Last time I was leading. I was beating everybody, but they didn’t do the caucus thing very well.
“I don’t like second,” he said.
The Trump pilgrimages to Iowa have been few and far between this year, and his absence opened the door for other Republican contenders. But Wednesday’s trip was the first of five scheduled Iowa visits the former president plans to make through the end of October.
Mr. Trump’s popularity was on display during a quick stop at a pub and eatery in Bettendorf, where he was met by hundreds of supporters who chanted “USA! USA!” and “We want Trump” as he passed out boxes of pizza, posed for photos and signed a woman’s tank top and forearm.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is one of the other candidates who has been laser-focused on the state, which could be the last chance to stop Mr. Trump from capturing the party’s nomination.
“Trump’s team is scrambling to play catch-up to an effort Team DeSantis has spent six months successfully building,” said Jess Szymanski, a spokesperson for the pro-DeSantis Never Back Down super PAC, which has reserved $13 million in ad buys before Thanksgiving.
“They’re suddenly announcing staff changes, bogus numbers and a very weak schedule of five campaign events in seven weeks, which is less than what Gov. DeSantis does in one day, in a scramble to address the fact that Trump has an Iowa problem,” she said.
Mr. Trump assured Iowans that he would make more regular visits.
The Trump campaign aims to cement his status as the runaway front-runner in the nomination battle and prevent his rivals from catching fire before the caucuses kick off the nomination contests on Jan. 15.
Mr. Trump holds a 30-point lead over second-place Mr. DeSantis in the state. The rest of the contenders are mired in the single digits.
With four months before the caucuses, Mr. Trump’s rivals are running out of time to stop him.
It is not for a lack of trying.
Mr. Trump arrived Wednesday amid a wave of outrage over his criticism of six-week abortion bans that states have adopted and his refusal to go all-in on a 14-week ban.
The laws have energized social and religious conservatives across the country. Iowa’s evangelical and born-again Christians helped Mr. Cruz defeat Mr. Trump in 2016.
Mr. Trump has signaled that he is looking toward the general election and staking a position more in line with the American public.
In a recent interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press,” Mr. Trump said the fetal heartbeat measure that Mr. DeSantis signed into law in Florida is “terrible” and a “mistake.”
Gov. Kim Reynolds, the popular Iowa Republican who signed such a ban this year, was irate.
“It’s never a ‘terrible thing’ to protect innocent life,” Ms. Reynolds said on social media on the eve of Mr. Trump’s visit. “I’m proud of the fetal heartbeat bill the Iowa legislature passed and I signed in 2018 and again earlier this year.”
Mr. DeSantis complimented Ms. Reynolds “and the Iowa legislature for promoting a culture of life.”
“Donald Trump is wrong to attack the heartbeat bill as ‘terrible,’” Mr. DeSantis said on social media. “Standing for life is a noble cause.”
Mr. Trump has defended his record by reminding voters about his appointment of three justices to the Supreme Court who led to the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that made abortion a constitutional right.
“The same people attacking us now have been failing you for decades,” Mr. Trump said at a stop in Dubuque. “But unlike them, I got the job done.”
Mr. Trump reiterated his support for abortion exceptions in cases of rape or incest or to save the life of the mother.
“We would probably lose the majority in 2024 without the exceptions and perhaps the presidency itself,” he said. “In order to win in 2024, Republicans must learn how to properly talk about abortion.”
Jack McDermott of Iowa said he is willing to cut Mr. Trump some slack on his opposition to a six-week ban.
“It just goes to show he is not perfect,” Mr. McDermott said. “It is not a dealbreaker.”
The 79-year-old farmer said he finds solace in the fact that the Iowa ban is already on the books and is unlikely to change, given the state’s political conservatism.
Tammy Streets, who recently relocated to her hometown from Texas, said she loathes abortion but is willing to cut Mr. Trump some slack.
“Oh, that’s my president,” said Ms. Streets, 64. “Hey, we’re not all perfect and we all have our own opinions. We all have our own ideas, right? I love him.
“There are more important things right now,” she said.
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
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