At the Iowa State Fair, DeSantis appears to be a second-rate attraction
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It seemed everything that could have gone wrong for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Saturday did.
His trip to the Iowa State Fair, a rite of passage for presidential hopefuls, was already on shaky standing after a group of protesters disrupted his first Iowa event Friday. He opted out of the Des Moines Register Soapbox, a state fair mainstay where candidates get 20 minutes for a stump speech, and instead showed up for a public interview with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.
The “fair-side chat” was set to be redemption — a one-on-one with a longtime ally, where he could spend half an hour, in friendly territory, making a direct case to Iowans.
Before he ever took the stage, though, a banner with a sarcastic message (“Be likeable, Ron!”) circled overhead, a shot at his alleged coldness. Then a group of pro-abortion protesters began blowing ear-piercing whistles and banging cowbells, causing a skirmish in the crowd and forcing Reynolds to pause the event and ask them to play nice. Minutes after the protesters were dragged out by state troopers, DeSantis’ audio cut out.
The governor has spent the past two days coddling and cozying up to every Iowa voter and state legislator possible. The return on investment? Being drowned out by his biggest adversaries: progressives and Trump loyalists.
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Many candidates with early momentum have seen their campaigns take blows in Iowa. Mitt Romney’s infamous “corporations are people” line, delivered on the Soapbox in 2011, labeled him as out-of-touch.
In 2007, Fred Thompson made a similar gaffe — by wearing loafers that were too fancy to the fair. In 2003, John Kerry ordered a smoothie instead of the customary corn dog. And in a twist of Iowan fate, DeSantis tried to hit all the right notes — yet could never seem to get enough people to listen.
The scenario could not be more ideal for former President Donald Trump, nor more disappointing for DeSantis. The former president maintains a massive lead on the Florida governor in national polls — DeSantis, his closest challenger, trails by nearly 40 percentage points. In Iowa, it is closer, but still huge: a poll from last week shows Trump ahead by 26 points.
DeSantis saw the deficit firsthand Saturday, where Trump’s 90-minute visit to the state drew more fanfare than DeSantis’ two days.
On Saturday afternoon, while DeSantis joined Reynolds and Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst at a grill to flip pork chops, Trump supporters surrounded the venue and chanted, “We love Trump!” Moments later, Trump’s plane flew overhead, seeming to taunt DeSantis as fairgoers craned to get a look. Onboard were a dozen Florida U.S. House members who’ve backed the former president over the governor. All the while, the “Be likeable, Ron!” banner continued its rotations, reportedly bankrolled by the Trump campaign.
Trump’s visit to the state fair lasted about an hour — long enough to arrive to the overflowing Steer N’ Stein bar, deliver a short speech, wave at onlookers, and follow a security detail out. But the crowd outside of the bar, craning for a glimpse of Trump as he entered or exited, was at least three times the size of the crowd at DeSantis’ “fair-side chat” with Gov. Reynolds. Onlookers sat on shoulders or climbed nearby buildings to get a view — including several individuals in DeSantis shirts or carrying DeSantis memorabilia.
Meanwhile, DeSantis walked through the fair for the better part of Saturday, surrounded by about a dozen men carrying DeSantis signs, who identified themselves as employees of DeSantis’ political action committee, Never Back Down.
Even the crowd at DeSantis’ morning event, protesters aside, was not entirely convinced by the governor. When his audio cut out, amid an awkward stir among the standing-room-only crowd near the back, a woman near the front took it upon herself to be the impromtu messenger.
“He said, ‘The American Dream is slipping away, and we need to fight for it!’” she yelled, turning to the crowd behind her, hands cupped to her mouth. The woman — who introduced herself to me as Malette from Marshalltown — isn’t convinced by DeSantis.
“We were coming (to the fair) because we knew Trump was going to be here. I did not realize DeSantis was going to be here,” she said. “I would probably vote for Trump.”
The fact that a significant portion of DeSantis’ audience couldn’t hear his speech before the audio cut didn’t help, either. Reynolds hadn’t even asked the first question when a group of six protesters began blowing whistles and ringing cowbells, causing Reynolds to stop the event and ask all attendees to be “Iowa nice.”
“We’ll stop until you do,” she said.
But she didn’t stop, and neither did the protesters, who yelled obscenities and flashed profane gestures amid their ringing. DeSantis and Reynolds carried on, but the back portion of the audience couldn’t hear much over the noise from the protesters, who identified themselves as the same group that disrupted DeSantis’ Friday event.
“I came out here to disrupt his event because he’s not welcome here in Iowa,” said Derek Torstenson of Minnesota, 27, one of the demonstrators. “He needs to go back to Florida to do his job, for once.” Torstenson wore a shirt that said “Be Gay, Fund Abortion” on the front; on the back, “Queer & Trans Liberation is Reproductive Justice.”
“I felt bad that people decided to turn around from DeSantis to watch the protesters,” said Allyson Beckham, an undecided voter from Arizona. “Protesters are going to come and go. It’s our right, free speech, it’s wonderful. But we’re here to actually listen.”
An Iowa State Patrol officer approached them, then retreated. After returning with several other officers, a shoving match broke out, and two of the female demonstrators ended up on the ground. Several of the protesters left willingly, and two were dragged out, screaming and whistling as they were being pulled.
“Do not whistle anymore, or you’re going to be under arrest!” a man, not in a police uniform, said as he helped the officers escort the demonstrators out.
By the time the officers left and the crowd returned its attention to DeSantis, he was wrapping up a story about visiting Iowa with his son. “He stops and he says, ‘Daddy, is this heaven?’” DeSantis said. “I said, ‘No, son, it’s Iowa.’” The audience let out a half-hearted cheer.
