DES MOINES, Iowa — The loop Donald Trump’s private jet made above the Iowa State Fair before his visit last weekend was more than just a gesture to the hundreds of supporters — and a few rival candidates — on the ground. It was a reminder that the four-time indicted former president casts a Boeing 757-sized shadow over the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
That’s where agreement about Trump seems to end. With less than five months before Iowans cast the first votes in the GOP contest, conversations with more than 40 Republicans at the time-honored presidential campaign ritual suggest the party is far from unified on much of anything else.
Most voters say that until the winter chill sets in, they’re keeping an open mind, honoring the state’s tradition of vetting all candidates. Still, many GOP voters say they can’t help but weigh their intense feelings about Trump as they consider their choices.
In line to view the life-sized cow sculpted from butter, around booths selling deep-fried Twinkies and Oreos and throughout this annual tribute to Midwestern agriculture, some Republicans who plan to attend the Jan. 15 caucuses said they will support Trump even if he’s a convicted felon. Others are just as adamant that the time has come to pivot from the figure who reshaped their party.
Many are conflicted, yearning to turn the page but not disowning the former president. They like what he did in office and support his policy priorities — and yet they worry that what they view largely as political persecution could hobble him both as the Republican nominee and as president.
“President Trump – he’s just got a lot of distractions, and you know his bedside manner’s not good,” said Des Moines Republican Frank Miller, who was excited about the candidates he heard from at a barbecue stop near the animal barns.
“There’s a lot of people in this country that think that’s more important than the policy,” added Miller, who works for an insurance company and is undecided on whom he’ll support. “I’m not one of those.”
Loyalty to Trump runs deep in Iowa, a state he comfortably carried twice and where he is the heavy favorite in early polls for the Republican caucuses. Still, it’s apparent from talking to voters that already-complicated assessments of Trump could shift during months of televised debates, relentless advertising and more intense campaigning — never mind court proceedings in the series of criminal indictments he faces from New York to Florida.
And GOP voters in this predominantly white, largely rural state are paying attention.
The only circumstances that would keep Connie Lamberti from again supporting Trump in the caucuses are his withdrawal or a physical ailment that makes him unable to run.
Not on her list: a conviction in any of four criminal indictments Trump faces. Lamberti thinks they’re all politically motivated.
“I believe I would still caucus for him,” said the 70-year-old retired communications administrator from Ankeny while attending a candidate interview series led by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. “I believe it’s intentional on his opponents’ part.”
Trump’s brief Aug. 12 stop at the fair only stoked his celebrity status. He waved a porkchop as he waded through a crush of fans and media. He introduced Florida U.S. House members who had endorsed him, a shot at Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 rival who was touring the fair with his family.