Iowa voters prepare to head to polls amid bitter cold as first GOP caucuses near
Iowa voters will have to push through bitter cold weather to cast their votes in the Republican presidential caucuses on Monday. Former President Trump holds a wide lead in polls released just ahead of election day, followed by former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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Former President Donald Trump told a protestor to “go home to mommy,” after he was interrupted during a rally in Indianola, Iowa on Sunday.
Trump, like the other Republican candidates, continued to make a last-ditch effort to gather support in Iowa ahead of the Iowa Caucuses on Monday.
The former president made a stop in Indianola, Iowa on Sunday to give a speech at a rally, when he was met with protestors.
One female protestor could be heard shouting, “You take millions.”
“I would go home to mommy,” Trump responded.
He then addressed the crowd, telling him it was amazing because he used to get interrupted all of the time, adding that he did not think it had happened in about two and a half to three years.
“That’s different, and she’s so young,” Trump said. “So young and immature.”
He was then interrupted again for nearly a minute, with protestors shouting, “Climate Criminal.”
But his supporters then drowned out the protestors with chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
“That’s why we have America over here now,” Trump said.
Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, during the Republican presidential primary debate hosted by NewsNation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, US, on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. (Micah Green/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Vivek Ramaswamy told a crowd on Sunday that his campaign is going to deliver “a shock” to the world when the results of the Iowa Caucuses are tallied.
The Republican candidate has been traversing Iowa to drum up support going into the Caucuses this Monday, making a stop at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria in Ankeny.
“I think we’re seeing a late surge here,” he said. “We are going to deliver a shock to the world Monday night with all of your help to do it. The media has missed us the entire way, but that’s ok.”
Ramaswamy also said he was going to have a lot of fun proving the media wrong and doing what is right for the U.S.
During the speech, Ramaswamy was interrupted by a couple of men who walked up and wanted to speak.
The candidate asked the men to sit down, and even invited them to stick around for a Q&A session at the end.
“You’re going to respect our norms. You’re welcome to stay. We can have a Q&A. If not, you get the hell out,” Ramaswamy told the men.
He then said the men were sent to his event by the super PACs, calling them super PAC puppets.
“And this is why we need to get the super PACs out of American politics,” Ramaswamy said. “We’re sick and tired of it. The other candidates are threatened.”
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, said Sunday that firing President Biden starts in her state on Monday.
Hinson was a guest on “Fox Report,” where she spoke about the turnout leading up to the Iowa Caucuses, saying hundreds, if not thousands, of Iowans have been going out to hear directly from the Republican candidates as they make their final pitches.
“I think Iowans are certainly committed because they understand what’s at stake,” Hinson said. “Firing Joe Biden starts here tomorrow in Iowa, and Iowans take our role in doing that very seriously.”
She explained that Iowans are attending events, putting candidates through the ringer and asking “very, very tough questions.”
“I think it’s really important to note that Iowa, being the first in the nation, you can’t buy Iowan’s votes,” Hinson said. “You have to come here and do that hard work. Only in Iowa will you be able to have a beer with a candidate in your basement or maybe play against them at the Iowa State Fair at an arcade game.”
With one day left to sway voters, Republican presidential candidates are holding their final events in the Hawkeye State.
"I've probably been to more pizza ranches than I have to gyms in the last six months," Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy said during a December event in Atlantic, Iowa.
Former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, right, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, left, appearing at a Republican presidential nomination debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
From former Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley’s pictures with the Iowa State Fair Butter Cow – to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ visit to the Field of Dreams in Dyersville, candidates have held events across Iowa for the last year.
Fox News' Bret Baier and Amy Munneke authored this report.
Republican candidates out on the campaign trail continued final pushes on Sunday to build support before the Iowa Caucuses, including former President Donald Trump, who served pizzas to firefighters in Waukee.
Trump first made a stop by Casey’s General Store in Waukee, Iowa to pick up pizzas after speaking at a rally in Indianola.
He was joined by North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who earlier in the day threw his support behind the former president.
The motorcade then went to the Waukee Fire Department, where Trump handed out several boxes of pizzas to the fire crews at the firehouse.
Video shows Trump handing the boxes to crew members and also eating a slice while standing with them.
Vivek Ramaswamy, chairman and co-founder of Strive Asset Management and 2024 Republican presidential candidate, speaks during a campaign event in Des Moines, Iowa, US, on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2024. (Christian Monterrosa/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is campaigning heavily for the Iowa Caucuses, nearly took a tumble as he walked and talked with reporters while moving through a snowstorm on Sunday.
Ramaswamy was captured on video talking with a group of people as he walked on ice, before slipping and nearly falling onto the slippery surface.
Right after slipping, the candidate said, “I gotta watch myself walk carefully, here, I didn’t wear my boots.”
Republican candidates are pushing through the state to make every last effort to gain support of Iowans ahead of Monday’s Iowa Caucuses.
Those heading to the polls will likely encounter bitter cold weather on Monday when they head to the polls to cast their votes, with forecasters predicting temperatures well below zero across the state.
Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Sunday he is 110% in favor of former President Donald Trump winning the Iowa Caucuses and going on to win the presidency in November, adding he can help get things back to where they were four years ago.
In an interview with Fox News, Jordan said, “I’m for President Trump.”
He said he spoke with the former president at a rally in Iowa on Sunday, telling him he thinks this election is really about where we have come in the last four years.
Rep. Jim Jordan speaking to the press. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Jordan pointed to things like having a secure border four years ago, to now having no border, or watching the gas prices go from $2 per gallon up to $4 or even $5 per gallon.
“I think the country understands that,” Jordan said, proclaiming that Trump, who “projected strength” while in the Oval Office, can get the U.S. back to where it was.
“I think he’s going to win big tomorrow. I think that’s going to help him as he goes into New Hampshire, South Carolina and secures the nomination, and more importantly, wins in November and becomes our next president,” Jordan added.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call Inc. via Getty Images)
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., threw his support behind former President Donald Trump on Sunday, just a day ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.
Rubio announced his support of the former president in a post on X, saying when Trump was in the White House, the senator was able to see success with policies he worked on for years because the U.S. had a president who did not cave to special interests or let bureaucrats block them.
Rubio pointed to the expanded child tax credit and tougher sanctions on regimes in Cuba and Venezuela, as policies he worked on that were successful when Trump was president.
“I support Trump because that kind of leadership is the only way we will get the extraordinary actions needed to fix the disaster Biden has created,” Rubio said. “It’s time to get on with the work of beating Biden & saving America.”
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who last month ended his bid for the Republican presidential nomination, is now backing former President Donald Trump.
Burgum made his announcement Sunday as he joined the former president at a Trump rally in Indianola, Iowa, a day before the state’s caucuses lead off the Republican presidential nominating calendar.
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum endorses former President Donald Trump at rally. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
“Under President Trump, America was safe and prosperous, and tomorrow when you caucus, you have an opportunity to send a message to the nation and send a message to the world that Donald J. Trump will make America great again, Burgum said as he stood on stage next to Trump.
Burgum, a multi-millionaire former software company CEO turned two-term North Dakota governor, launched a dark-horse campaign for the GOP nomination in June. After making the stage at the first two GOP presidential debates, Burgum failed to qualify for the third showdown and suspended his campaign in early December just ahead of the fourth debate. Burgum – little known outside of North Dakota – was unable to see his poll numbers rise above the single digits as he struggled to compete against rivals with much higher national name recognition.
Drake University professor and Co-Chair Rachel Paine Caufield joined Fox News on Sunday to explain how Iowans conduct their caucus process.
Iowans will head to the polls through freezing cold weather on Monday, and Caufield says Iowans "take pride" in kicking off the election process.
Fox News senior national correspondent Kevin Corke and Fox News contributor Ben Domenech discussed the difference in ratings and tone between former President Donald Trump's town hall on Fox News and the CNN debate between Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis.
Former President Donald Trump’s confident he’ll do “very well” in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses, which lead off the 2024 Republican presidential nominating calendar.
But the former president isn’t ready to make prediction on if he’ll top 50%.
As he left his hotel in Des Moines on Sunday morning enroute to headline a campaign rally in nearby Indianola, Iowa, Trump was asked by Fox News’ James Levinson on whether he would receive more than 50 % of the vote in the caucuses.
"I don't know, I think we are doing very well,” Trump answered.The former president is the commanding front-runner in the latest polls in Iowa as well as in national surveys in the GOP presidential nomination race as he makes his third straight White House run.
He grabbed 50% support, or higher, in a slew of polls over the past month in Iowa. And he stood at 48% support in the final Des Moines Register/Mediacom/NBC News poll of likely Republican caucusgoers was released Saturday night. His closest rivals – former ambassador to the United Nations and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis – stood at 20% and 16% in the new survey.
The closely watched and highly anticipated survey, conducted by longtime pollster Ann Selzer, has a well-earned tradition of accuracy in past GOP presidential caucuses, and is considered by many as the gold standard in Iowa polling.
Trump and his campaign have been attempting to downplay the high expectations he faces in Iowa.
“No one has ever won the Iowa caucus by more than 12%,” Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita told Fox News Digital this weekend. “I think the public polls are a little rich.”
Former South Carolina Nikki Haley issued a challenge to former President Trump ahead of the Iowa Caucuses in an interview with Fox News Digital.
Haley declared to Trump that "it's you and me now," following the release of polls showing her in second place against Trump and beating out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis . Trump still maintains a commanding lead over the field in polling, however.
Fox News' Andrew Murray contributed to this report
Nikki Haley cancels Iowa caucus event after blizzard grounds plane in Des Moines
Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley was forced to cancel a campaign event in Dubuque, Iowa on Sunday after blizzard conditions prevented her plane from leaving Des Moines.
Her campaign says she is now holding a tele-town hall event instead. Poor weather is proving to be a major factor in the GOP contest in Iowa. Voters will have to brave temperatures well below zero across the state, which is widely expected to impact turnout.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is backing Nikki Haley’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is backing Nikki Haley’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination.
The moderate Republican, who seriously mulled a Whit House run of his own in 2022 after completing two terms steering blue-state Maryland, said that Haley is the “strongest chance” for the GOP to put forward the best possible standard-bearer in November’s presidential election.
“I’ve been saying since last spring when I made the decision not to run that I really didn’t want to see a multi-car pileup,” Hogan said Sunday morning on CNN's "State of the Union," as he pointed to the once crowded and combustible field of Republican contenders rivaling former President Donald Trump, who remains the commanding front-runner in the GOP 2024 nomination race.
“So yes. I think it is time for the party to get behind Nikki Haley. … I believe Nikki Haley is the strongest chance for us to put forth our best possible candidate for November.”
Hogan recently stepped down from a leadership role the centrist No Labels organization, that has been seeking to find a third-party candidate to run on a unity ticket in the fall.Asked about his decision to step down from the No Labels leadership position, Hogan said “I’m focused on trying to nominate the strongest possible Republican, which is why I’m urging everyone to get behind Nikki Haley.”
Fox News' Paul Steinhauser authored this report
DeSantis reveals his prediction for Iowa as voters prepare to head to the polls
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis predicted that he would "do well" when Iowa Republicans vote in the party's presidential caucuses on Monday.
DeSantis joined Fox News Sunday with host Shannon Bream, arguing that he and his campaign have put in more work than any other candidate. Recent polls show DeSantis trailing in third behind former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and former President Trump.
"Do you need to finish second here in Iowa?" Bream asked.
"We're gonna do well," DeSantis responded. "I appreciate being the underdog…I do better in those situations, and I think I have a record of doing well as the underdog. We're gonna do well, and we look forward to doing the next contest."
"We've been working hard. We've been doing a great job, and I think Monday is going to be the pivot point where, now that people start to actually vote, I think it's gonna help change the landscape," he added. "There has not been a candidate that has worked harder…Iowans notice that. You're not entitled to just be nominated. You don't just swoop in and get coronated. You've gotta earn it, and we've earned it."
Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Jeff Kaufmann joined ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ to discuss potential voter turnout for Monday's caucuses on Sunday.
Kaufmann noted the freezing cold temperatures that could turn off some voters from the polls, but he argued frustration with President Biden's leadership will push residents to suffer through.
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley isn't fazed by Sen. Rand Paul's "Never Nikki" pledge and says she was never looking to have the Kentucky Republican in her corner as the campaign trail to crucial states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina heats up.
"I don't think any informed or knowledgeable Libertarian or conservative should support Nikki Haley," he said, citing her "attitude" toward U.S. interventions overseas and her alleged "involvement" with the military industrial complex, among others.
Haley, responding to Paul's jabs on Saturday, told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade she isn't taking the criticism personally, saying her opponents can continue to "play games" as they choose.
"At the end of the day, we're going to keep talking to people about how we're going to get inflation down, how we're going to get our kids reading again, how we're going to secure the border once and for all, how we're going to bring law and order back to our country, and how we're going to have an America that is strong," she said.
Read the full article by Fox News' Taylor Penley
Nikki Haley spent thousands on luxury hotels despite claims she runs 'a tight ship'
Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley's campaign spent thousands on luxury hotels last year despite her team's claim it runs "a tight ship" and stays in "affordable" lodging.
According to Haley's third-quarter disbursements filing with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), her campaign spent over $11,000 on high-end, four- and five-star hotels.
That included stays at The Breakers, a luxurious hotel in Palm Beach, Florida, and the Wave Resort in Long Branch, New Jersey.
Other hotel expenditures listed in the report include stays at a high-end Fairmont Hotel in Texas, an Omni Hotel, a J.W. Marriott and multiple stays at the upscale Hotel Fort Des Moines in Iowa.
Read the full article by Fox News' Brandon Gillespie
Standing in front of a jam-packed room at the Iowa headquarters of a super PAC supporting his White House bid, Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis stressed "we've done it the right way."
The Florida governor has spent much of his time and resources in Iowa, the state whose caucuses kick off the GOP presidential nominating calendar.
And with his presidential campaign arguably on the line in Monday night's caucuses, DeSantis was urging his supporters to brave the frigid below zero temperatures that are punishing the Hawkeye State to show up and vote.
"It’s going to be cold. It’s not going to be pleasant. But if you’re willing to go out there and you’re willing to fight for me, if you’re willing to bring people to the caucus, if you’re willing to brave the elements and be there for the couple of hours you have to be there, if you’re willing to do that, if you’re willing to fight for me on Monday night, then as president I’ll be fighting for you for the next eight years," DeSantis emphasized.
DeSantis, who was convincingly re-elected to a second term as Florida governor 14 months ago, was once the clear alternative to former President Donald Trump in the Republican White House race. For months, he was solidly in second place behind Trump, who's the far-and-away front-runner in the latest Iowa polls and in national surveys.
Read the full article by Fox News' Paul Steinhauser
‘Fox & Friends’ co-host Lawrence Jones reported from Sioux City, Iowa to preview the Iowa caucuses with local voters on Sunday.
Jones met with residents who expressed confidence that former President Trump would take the win then voters head to the polls on Monday.
Trump first, Haley second, DeSantis third in final poll ahead of Iowa caucuses
Former President Donald Trump remains the commanding front-runner in a closely watched poll of likely Republican presidential caucusgoers in Iowa.
And former ambassador and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley edges Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis for second place.
The final Des Moines Register/Mediacom/NBC News poll of likely Republican caucusgoers was released Saturday night, two days before the Iowa caucuses lead off the 2024 GOP presidential nominating calendar.
Trump stands at 48% support in the poll, with Haley at 20% and DeSantis at 16%
Multimillionaire biotech entrepreneur and first-time candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who has relentlessly campaigned across the Hawkeye State the past couple of months, stands at 8% support in the poll.
The new poll is the second straight survey in Iowa to indicate Haley ahead of DeSantis, following a Suffolk University poll that was released a few days ago. But her advantage over DeSantis in the new survey is within the sampling error.
Read the full breakdown of the poll by Fox News' Paul Steinhauser
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