Marc Knupp, a third-generation Iowa farmer, describes himself as a longtime supporter of Donald Trump.
But Knupp, who said he is in his 70s, admitted he doubts the former president can win in 2024 — having been “spotted” for the GOP nomination by the media and his rivals.
“I’ve been a longtime supporter of Donald Trump, but unfortunately he’s not given a fair chance in the media or the public,” he told DailyMail.com between candidates’ Q&As at Governor Kim Reynolds’ carnival. to chat.
“Trump has been duped by everyone,” he said, pointing out that “Trump cannot be elected.”
Knupp, like many Iowans, spent Friday at the State Fair listening to the many Republican candidates make their pitches for the 2024 campaign.
Donald Trump spent Friday on his golf course at his club in Bedminister, NJ
He hasn’t chosen one to support yet, but is looking around. “There are a lot of good candidates running,” he noted.
He said his only focus for 2024 is “making sure Joe Biden is absent.”
Knupp joins other Iowa Republicans who believe Trump has an eligibility problem that could undo his bid to return to the White House.
Kari Lake, the failed governor-designate of Arizona turned Trump surrogate, spent Friday at the carnival rallying voters on behalf of the former president.
She told DailyMail.com that the media has been unfair to Trump’for eight years. They have dragged his family through the mud. They have dragged his name through the mud. They’ve been running an eight-year smear campaign.’
She said he would be at the carnival on Saturday talking to people.
“He’s just going to spend the day with the people. He is a man of the people. Everything he does, he does for the American people. And so he’s not going to do a lot of the typical things the politicians do. He will be here with the people. He will be here with the people and I really believe Iowans will appreciate that,” she said.
Trump has many supporters in the state, but some Republicans are expressing doubts about his ability to beat Joe Biden ahead of the former president’s appearance at the state fair on Saturday.
Trump leads Iowa polls — including by 26 points in the latest DailyMail.com poll — but he’s barely set foot in the state.
And while his rivals for the Republican nomination campaign old-school — he visits all 99 counties, visits the butter cow at the state fair, and throws chops on the grill — Trump arrives and departs on Saturday, spending only a few hours on the ground. .
The lack of appearances and the rush of his competition could cast doubt on the former president in voters.
Another Iowa voter at Reynolds’ event, a woman who declined to give her name, described herself as a “strong Republican” who was done with Trump.
She said there is “too much controversy” surrounding the former president and she “just wants to beat Biden.”
Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen flip pork burgers and meet the Iowa Pig Producers Association
Fairgoers pause with their hands over their hearts to listen to the National Anthem being played at the Iowa State Fair on Friday
She also feared that Trump might have distractions that could prevent him from governing. The former president already had enough. Special counsel Jack Smith asked Friday that the trial related to Trump’s trial efforts to overturn the 2020 election should begin on January 2, 2024, and last “no more than four to six weeks.” That period would cover the Iowa primaries – January 15 – and possibly even the New Hampshire primary, tentatively set for February 6.
And if the 2024 election came down to a contest between Trump and Biden, “I don’t even know if I would vote,” she admitted.
Reynolds hosts carnival chats with all Republican presidential candidates except Trump, who declined her invitation, but she has spoken well of rival Ron DeSantis.
Iowa Republican Senator Joni Ernst told Fox News that while Trump is leading in the polls, there are also some people who will say, “We need a new face.”
Plenty of Republicans are vying to be the fresh face. Mike Pence walks the fairgrounds for two days. He talked to Reynolds, ate some pork, and saw the famous butter cow.
Ron DeSantis, wife Casey and their three children will tackle the fairgrounds on Saturday. Prior to that, the DeSantis clan is on a two-day bus tour of the state as part of Florida’s governor’s quest to visit all 99 counties.
Trump, on the other hand, sent former Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake public on Friday to act as a surrogate on his behalf.
Kari Lake was in Iowa on Friday to act as a surrogate for Donald Trump, she stopped to milk a cow
Longtime Iowa Republican Senator Chuck Grassley told DailyMail.com, “When you’re at the State Fair, talk to the Iowans. Sentence? That’s how you win a caucus.’
But he may have to do some handshaking and rope work himself. And his Saturday event remains a bit of a mystery: will he eat fried food on a stick? Will he visit the butter cow?
Longtime Republican Senator Chuck Grassley told DailyMail.com, “When you’re at the State Fair, talk to the Iowans. Sentence? That’s how you win a caucus.’
Grassley, who guided presidential candidates around the state fair, said he has not spoken to the former president nor does he know what Trump is up to on Saturday.
‘Don’t know. But I know what he did eight years ago when he was here. He came in with his helicopter, let the kids ride in the helicopter. He should do the same thing again,’ he said.