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Trump urges backers to turn out in telerally event
Trump focused on logistics during a tele-rally call with supporters Friday night, as his campaign moved in-person events into virtual events to accommodate the weather.
“I know it’s gonna be very cold, but I know you know how to handle the cold better than anybody,” Trump said. “And the caucus locations are all indoors and any lines are going to move very quickly.”
“We’re looking to set records, and we think that frankly, the other teams aren’t going to be as persistent in getting out as our team,” Trump said.
Ramaswamy says he’d caucus for Trump if he wasn’t running
Ramaswamy kicked off another day of Iowa campaigning in Spencer, where he called on Iowans to caucus for him despite noting, “If I weren’t in this race, I couldn’t imagine caucusing for anybody else other than Donald Trump.”
While Ramaswamy praised Trump, he also addressed points of contrast with him, at one point saying he was a part of the establishment. “The likes of John Bolton and Nikki Haley will not be my vice president and will not come anywhere near my administration,” Ramaswamy said.
Michigan GOP chairmanship in flux ahead of election year
Michigan Republican Party Chair Kristina Karamo said Saturday that she received a vote of confidence to remain in her position amid an effort to oust her, but it’s unclear who voted and what the next steps in the fight will be.
NBC News’ Allan Smith and Henry J. Gomez reported on the situation yesterday:
“A large group of Michigan state GOP committee members voted last week to remove Kristina Karamo as chairwoman, asserting that she was leading the party toward bankruptcy and failing to live up to promises of transparency and reform. The party’s No. 2 official then declared herself acting chair. Karamo rejected the vote, arguing that the process was illegitimate and a violation of state party bylaws. Karamo has called her own meeting for Saturday.”
Haley implores listeners to ‘finally right the ship in America’
Campaigning in Cedar Falls, Iowa, this morning wearing a shirt that says “she who dares wins,” Haley made an impassioned plea to her audience to “make history” on Monday — but not just by voting for a woman, she said.
“And I’m not talking about history of a female president,” Haley said. “I’m talking about history saying we are going to finally right the ship in America. We’re finally going to get it right.”
Haley made only a brief mention of her competitors and not by name — just saying, “The fellas are scared.”
DeSantis explains plans to challenge Trump and Haley in South Carolina
DeSantis explained to reporters outside one of his events why he’s planning to travel first to South Carolina after Monday’s caucuses instead of going straight to New Hampshire, the next primary state.
“We’re going to do an event in Greenville in the morning and then fly to New Hampshire that same day and do a televised town hall with CNN,” DeSantis said, adding that he thinks Haley and Trump have weakness in the state.
“We have 74 endorsements from current and former state legislators. She’s got 14. I have way more than Donald Trump does as well. And so it’s like, wait a minute, she was governor for six years, and yet most of them side with me because they see me as representing the values of South Carolina,” DeSantis said.
South Carolina’s Republican primary is Feb. 24, just over a month after New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 contest.
DeSantis: Fight the cold and ‘I’ll fight for you for the next eight years’
At his first stop of the day in Council Bluffs, Iowa, DeSantis promised to fight for Iowans if they fight the elements for him on Monday night.
Outside DeSantis’ super PAC-sponsored event, the wind chill dropped to an arctic 30 degrees below zero, but DeSantis promised to press on campaigning: “I am not going to be canceling — if people are willing to come out and hear from me, I’m going to show up all the way until the end of this caucus,” he said.
“If you’re willing to go out there and you’re willing to brave the elements on a cold, windy, snowy January night for me and do that for a few hours, I’ll fight for you for the next eight years,” DeSantis told the crowd of about 70 at an event space in a residential neighborhood in Council Bluffs.
Haley’s lone House endorser to campaign in Iowa
Haley’s campaign announced Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., will campaign for her in Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses.
“Whether it’s taking on the big-spending establishment or defending the sanctity of human life, Nikki has always fought on the front lines of the important conservative battles,” Norman said in a campaign announcement. “I’m excited to come to Iowa and help her win every vote leading up to caucus day.”
Norman is Haley’s only congressional endorser. Trump has vacuumed up far more support than others from the House and Senate — and he is the only GOP presidential candidate to receive any congressional endorsements since June, according to NBC News’ analysis.
DeSantis has been campaigning in recent days with GOP Reps. Chip Roy and Thomas Massie, two of his five congressional endorsers.
DeSantis celebrates campaign efforts with advisers and friends
DeSantis took advantage of yesterday’s snow day to relax at the end of Friday with some of his closest advisers and friends, ahead of a final blitz of campaigning this weekend.
The Florida governor — joined by his wife, Casey, senior campaign staff, donors, volunteers and friends — gathered for a casual celebration at Bevy’s Tavern in the Des Moines suburbs to thank team members for their efforts before Monday night’s caucuses.
With just two days left until Iowans make their presidential preferences known, the governor has made nearly 170 stops across the state, with four more stops on his campaign schedule today. DeSantis will start his day today in the western reaches of the state, making stops in Council Bluffs and Atlantic, followed by a drop-in at the super PAC Never Back Down’s headquarters in West Des Moines. He’ll end the day with a town hall in Davenport, on the border with Illinois.
Democrats resume Iowa billboard campaign ahead of GOP caucuses
The Democratic National Committee is launching another billboard campaign across Iowa, attacking Republican presidential candidates for what it’s calling “extreme” policy positions as they barnstorm the state ahead of the Jan. 15 caucuses.
The billboards target former President Trump, Haley and DeSantis, who polling suggests are the top three contenders in the state. Messages on the billboards accuse the three candidates of supporting an “extreme MAGA agenda,” including national abortion bans, cuts to Social Security and Medicare and tax breaks for the wealthy.
“No matter who emerges from the flurry of chaos that has been the 2024 Republican primary, every single one of these MAGA extremists is running on a deeply unpopular agenda that would make any of them low-temp losers in the general election,” said DNC national press secretary Sarafina Chitika.
At least two of the billboards will specifically focus on Trump, seizing on his recent remark predicting the U.S. economy will crash and hoping it occurs “during this next 12 months.”
“Donald Trump said he ‘hopes’ the economy crashes,” one billboard reads. “Millions of jobs lost, retirement savings wiped out, businesses shuttered.”
The billboards are posted in Waterloo-Cedar Falls, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Dubuque, Davenport and Des Moines — all locations where the Republican candidates have announced events in the run-up to the caucuses. The advertisements will remain active until Jan. 16, the day after the election.
Haley and DeSantis super PACs, Trump campaign lead late Iowa advertising
Haley’s super PAC, SFA Fund Inc., is set to spend the most money on TV ads in Iowa over the next three days, while Trump is spending the most of any candidate’s campaign, according to AdImpact.
And DeSantis’ two super PACs on the air, Fight Right and Good Fight, are spending more combined than Haley’s group, though DeSantis’ campaign itself is spending little. Because campaigns are guaranteed a lower advertising rate than outside groups, it is more efficient for campaigns to spend on TV, even though super PACs can raise more money from individual donors.
Caucusgoer intensity — and how excited they are to turn out amid severe winter weather — could play an important role in Monday’s contest.
Haley hits Biden foreign policy, predicts strong Iowa showing
Haley appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program late Friday to hit President Joe Biden’s handling of foreign policy.
“It is a constant topic of conversation that comes up with voters here in Iowa,” Haley said. “We’ve also seen it New Hampshire, people are worried, they see those wars and they’re worried about what this means. We should always be focused on national security and prevention of war. That’s what Joe Biden’s missed.”
Asked how she expects Monday’s caucuses to go, Haley said, “It’s really cold, but we’re going to have a strong showing.”
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