Roseanne Barr told Trump supporters in Iowa that it was up to them to “save the country” if they become the first state to cast their votes for a presidential candidate on Monday.
The TV star was scheduled to personally address the Five Seasons Republican Women on Tuesday in Cedar Rapids
But a night and morning of heavy snow in Iowa closed airports and meant she was grounded in Hawaii. Instead, she spoke via audio link to the eighty or so people gathered in a steakhouse.
“We are all very proud of you because you have decided that as Republicans in Iowa you are going to save our country and we know you can do it,” she told them.
“We know you are the only people in the entire country who have the wisdom to do it, and the strength and the knowledge to get it done.
In the photo, Roseanne is seen speaking at a Conservative meeting in December. She was scheduled to address Donald Trump supporters in Iowa on Tuesday, but had to speak via Zoom because bad weather prevented her from flying in from Hawaii
‘You’re the first, you have the ball. It’s all up to you.’
With just six days to go before the Iowa caucuses — when Republicans gather in gymnasiums, church halls and anterooms to debate, cajole and urge each other to choose a candidate — the Trump campaign’s plans are to to send a fleet of high-profile speakers across the border, the state was turned upside down by the weather.
Trump’s former press secretary Sarah Sanders and her father, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, cut short a trip to Iowa on Monday.
And Roseanne was stranded in Hawaii when flights were canceled due to bad weather.
She gave her speech remotely, part of a series of pep talks across the state as the candidates prepare for Monday and what could be a make-or-break moment in the nomination race.
Trump has a commanding lead in the race over Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley.
His aides say they are leaving nothing to chance as they convey the message that they must respond in all weather conditions.
Roseanne is among a small number of stage and screen stars who have publicly spoken out in support of Trump. She said she voted for him in the 2016 election and acted as a surrogate this time.
Roseanne poses with Trump in November last year. She posted the photo with the caption: ‘The new American gothic’
Heavy snow in Iowa has turned the campaign upside down. In Cedar Rapids (pictured here), snow began falling around 6pm on Monday and continued for 24 hours through Tuesday
Trump’s former Attorney General Matt Whitaker drove three hours through the snow from the capital Des Moines on Tuesday afternoon to address the Five Seasons Republican Women
A note sent to reporters on Monday stated that Roseanne would not be attending another event in Boone
A revival of her TV sitcom “Roseanne” ended in controversy when she posted a racist tweet (which she later said was a misguided joke about a public figure she did not know was black) and her character was killed off.
In her speech, she said it was clear that Trump was winning.
“We’re so close to winning and, you know, we can see that we’re so close to winning and… over the mark because of the way they’re attacking us, and the man that we represent as Donald Trump, ‘ she said. “We know how these attacks are increasing in intensity.”
She called on her supporters not to give up, but to keep fighting for a better American future.
“Fight like there’s no tomorrow,” she told them. “If he doesn’t win, and we don’t get him back, we’re going to have a very, very dark tomorrow.”
Rachel Schlabsz, 43, said she was attending her first political event.
“I don’t have many Republican friends. They are all liberal,” she said. ‘So I was looking for that like-mindedness. That’s why she invited me today and Roseanne happened to be the person, so it was a shame she couldn’t be there.”
A man shovels snow in front of Horizon Family Restaurant, where Nikki Haley was scheduled to hold a Monday morning event in Sioux City, Iowa, located in the western part of the state
But she said her words resonated and that she was ready to advocate for Trump when the time came.
Trump’s former acting attorney general Matt Whitaker, and a major political figure in Iowa, drove three hours through the snow from Des Moines to also give a pep talk.
He told the audience that the country was at a crossroads.
“Every generation has taken up the flag of freedom. And it has carried that banner further, teaching the next generation what America means, and that generation has picked up the mantle,” he said.
“I think we are in a moment of transition. We are in a moment of some chaos.
“And we are in a moment that requires leadership beyond what we have probably ever needed since the founding generation of American patriots decided that we would be a free and independent country.”