ANALYSIS: DeSantis Seizes Opportunity as Trump Cancels Iowa Event
- by: Nathan Worcester
- 2023-05-14
- Source:
The Epoch Times
- 05/15/2023
Under gray spring skies, the Dean Classic Car Museum in northwestern Iowa was packed. Local politicos, the media, and everyday conservatives had swarmed the showroom to hear Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speak at Rep. Randy Feenstra’s (R-Iowa) May 13 family picnic.
In previous years, Feenstra has hosted former Vice President Mike Pence and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley in Sioux Center.
Like DeSantis, who could be just days from a formal announcement, they’re top players in the GOP’s 2024 presidential spectacle.
But the main character in Republican politics was expected later that night two hundred forty miles to the east in the state capital of Des Moines. An outdoor amphitheater there was hours away from hosting a rally for former President Donald Trump.
Trump, the highest-polling Republican, unexpectedly canceled the event, citing a tornado threat in central Iowa. Those in DeSantis’ camp allege the weather was a cover story for poor attendance.
