Caucus Byte: The Continuing Adventures of Donnie and Ronnie

The 2024 GOP race was always going to be Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis. 

Ronald Reagan always said the 11th GOP Commandment was “Thou shall not speak ill of another Republican” 

But that civility doesn’t exist in the post - Trump landscape. Trump and DeSantis have went at each other hard. 

The Iowa State Fair was probably the peak moment where Trump really just seemed to troll his opponent. 




 The Daily Beast reported this:

Ron DeSantis was holding a “fairside chat” with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds when a plane trailing a banner suddenly appeared above the Iowa State Fair on Saturday. “Be likable, Ron,” the banner read—an obvious reference to the criticism that DeSantis does not have the charisma needed to win the Republican nomination for president and is often awkward on the trail. The Washington Post reports the display was paid for by Donald Trump—who arrived at the fair with supporters from Florida, handed out MAGA hats, and did not meet with Reynolds or take part in the usual fairground activities 

According to Iowa Public Radio, DeSantis was heckled at the State Fair by both liberals and Trump supporters which surely means nonpartisanship isn’t dead yet. 

I hear Iowans tell that Trump had his airplane buzz the Fair when De Santis was speaking. 

I am not sure what was intentional and what was happenstance, but here is what The Des Moines Register date-stamped in their live Fair blog:  

Trump Force One buzzed the Fair at 11:34 on August 12. This would have been when Ryan Binkley was talking on the Soapbox, but DeSantis would have been at the Iowa Pork Producers Tent- always a big moment for photo ops and soundbites (Vivek Ramaswamy was having ice cream with Iowa Ag Secretary Mike Naig at this moment too, for what it is worth) 

The big headline from Trump's visit to the State Fair, of course, was that he brought with him a host of Florida Republicans who endorsed him. The kind of pro wrestling style tactics that make you either love or hate the guy: Reps. Gus Bilirakis, Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, Carlos Gimenez, Brian Mast, Cory Mills, Anna Paulina Luna, Greg Steube and Mike Waltz. 

CNN said fliers were handed out around the Pork Tent saying “Iowa pork is delicious & provides nearly 1 in 10 working Iowans a job, but Ron DeSantis would be an utter catastrophe for Iowa” 

DeSantis-mentum in Iowa has cooled in recent months but he still seems the biggest challenge to the former President. 

The latest Trump ad proclaims that only he can do things like build a wall (even as headlines speak of new wall construction in Texas)and will go to war on the drug cartels (Scott and Haley have made the same claim). If not a direct shot at DeSantis- it is a pointed shot at Joe Biden followed by a level aim at anyone thinking of challenging the 45th President for the GOP nomination






DeSantis counterpunches with his recent ad- saying that he not Trump chose to serve in the armed services....



 and that he has done something that Trump hasn’t -won reelection.

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