2024 hopeful Doug Burgum hints his rivals are TOO focused on ‘woke’ wars as Iowa State Fair kicks off
Republican presidential nominee Doug Burgum kicked off the Iowa State Fair’s Political Soapbox with his wife Kathryn on Thursday — claiming he hasn’t yet been able to try his hand at a famed corn dog.
North Dakota’s billionaire governor claims his competitors waste a lot of time focusing on “woke” issues, saying many of the culture war issues can be resolved at the state level.
Surrounded by bizarre and extravagant food stalls, Burgum lashed out at former President Donald Trump, who is appearing at the carnival on Saturday, by insisting that real leaders “don’t have to tweet” about problems to solve them.
Burgum jokingly told DailyMail.com after his 20-minute soapbox speech that his experience as a CEO makes him uniquely qualified to delegate issues rather than take on every little fight at the top.
The Iowa State Fair is on Thursday and Burgum was the first candidate to take the small soapbox stage in front of a large room full of cattle. The GOP governor beamed when introduced by his recovering addict wife Kathryn and revealed that he had eaten a “fantastic pulled pork sandwich.”
North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum attacked his 2024 presidential candidates for their focus on wake-ism, claiming that a leader would delegate many of the culture war’s problems to the states and that the president would only focus on the biggest , most difficult problems.
Burgum was accompanied at the fair by his wife Kathryn. Pictured: North Dakota’s first couple take turns flipping chops and burgers in the Iowa Pork Producers Tent at the Iowa State Fair on Thursday, August 10
Caucus attendees from across the state flock to the fair, many unbothered by the political goings-on and more focused on the fanfare of the annual event — like figuring out which boar weighs the most and who grew the best onion.
“We know these issues are important to people,” Burgum told DailyMail.com when asked about fellow candidates who have focused campaigns on fighting awakening. “But we understand the role of the federal government. Because the federal government has a defined set of things they’re supposed to do, and basically the 10th Amendment states that the rest is deferred to the state’s comma or to the people.’
“So there are some things that states can handle or parents can handle or the local library board can handle,” he added. “I mean, it can just literally be handled right there. Every minute the president spends on an issue that isn’t energy, economics or national security — when we’re in a cold war with China, and we’re in an actual proxy war with Russia — every minute that isn’t on those things is spent is time that is (wasted).’
Burgum sold his North Dakota-based technology company to Microsoft in 2001 for $1.1 billion. However, he is proud of his working-class background and his history of working with his hands before becoming a successful businessman.
The longshot candidate told honest visitors not to count him because he had already “performed” a “miracle” by marrying Kathryn.
“I grew up in a small town, she grew up in a big city — Jamestown, North Dakota, 15,000 people,” Burgum explained. “And if you understand what high school sports are like… there’s A and there’s B. A is the Fargo, the Bismarck, the Jamestown. B is like the city I grew up in.’
“Class A girls never married class B boys,” he added. “This is the first miracle. You think I can’t win, just understand what I’ve already achieved in my life.’
While Burgum kicked off the political festivities, other fairground traditions were already underway, such as the ‘great swine competition’ in search of the heaviest and largest pig
Fairgoers are also already munching on the food the fair is known for – such as funnel cake, fried everything, cheese curds, corn dogs and meat sticks
Kathryn Burgum took the stage ahead of her husband to open up about being a recovering addict, saying she hopes to use her platform to end the stigma around addiction
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds posed with a sculpture of butter Iowa’s Collegiate Woman Athlete of the Year Caitlin Clark – with the famous butter cow sculpture peering out from behind the GOP governor
Before Burgum took the stage, his wife captivated the audience with her story of addiction.
“I never thought I’d stand in front of you as the first lady of North Dakota,” she said from the soapbox as her husband stood by from the sidelines. “I never thought I’d talk publicly about my struggle with addiction and my recovery.”
She said when Burgum decided to run for governor, she thought she could use the platform to help end the stigma around addiction.
North Dakota’s first lady revealed, “I’ve been recovering from alcohol for 21 years now. I decided to share my story when I became first lady to help eliminate the stigma of addiction – the quickest, quickest, easiest way to eliminate stigma is just to talk about it. Talk about this brain disease of addiction.”
With Burgum running for president, his wife said, “You know, if I can help on a national level—work to remove the stigma of addiction so more lives can be saved, I’m totally doing it.”
“Kathryn changes lives and saves lives, and it was amazing with her courage to share her story,” said Burgum.
Kathryn Burgum claps for husband Doug on the sidelines of his Iowa State Fair Political Soapbox speech on Thursday – the first of such comments at the 2023 Fair
Rather than focusing on culture wars and ideological talking points, Burgum says he plans to keep his campaign focused on economics, national security and energy independence.
“If you’re a CEO, if you have something that can be handled by a sales associate or by a customer service rep, the CEO doesn’t do it,” he explained. And you don’t have to tweet about it. You just get it done. You serve your customers, and then the CEO can focus on the biggest, hardest problems.”
The soapbox this year is surrounded by food stalls like the Dawghouse Concessions, featuring “fried pickledawgs.” Another stall sells cajun cheese on a stick and another offers fried desserts and sweets such as oreos, twinkies and candy bars.
GOP candidate Larry Elder was also talking Thursday morning with Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds at JR’s South Pork Ranch.
Reynolds counterprograms the political soapbox with her own so-called “fairside chats,” which Florida Governor Ron DeSantis will attend to dismiss the soapbox.