Donald Trump, the former US president, has admitted to a “worry” about severe winter weather hurting his support in Monday’s Iowa caucuses, the first contest to decide a Republican nominee for the White House.
Trump remains the overwhelming favourite. On Saturday he held a near 30-point lead over Nikki Haley in an NBC News/ Des Moines Register/ Mediacom Iowa poll, seen as the gold standard, with Ron DeSantis trailing in third and Vivek Ramaswamy in fourth.
A social media video showed a windblown Trump entering a hotel in the state capital, Des Moines, touching up his hair and telling reporters: “That’s a lot of cold weather. We’ve got a lot of meetings tonight. We’re doing well. We have a lot of tremendous support, But it’s nasty out there.”
Trump took part in a hastily arranged virtual campaign event after being forced to cancel three in-person rallies over the weekend due to heavy snows and fierce winds. He was interviewed by Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird as audience members wore white caps with “Trump caucus captain” written in gold lettering.
“I just landed on an airplane and it’s nasty out there,” he said “From the airplane to the car was about 20ft and I’m saying wow, that’s blowing – you have a hard time reaching it. But it’s getting better.
“I worry about that but at the same time, I’m watching even the newscast today, they’re saying the Trump voter has so much more spirit, dedication. They say they’ll walk over glass, that the Trump voter’s coming to vote.”
Trump’s diehard supporters often queue for hours to attend his rallies; some even arrive a day in advance and sleep outside in order to secure a prominent place. They have endured blazing sunshine and downpours of rain without flinching.
But the frontrunner’s lead in the polls is so big that some voters might take his victory for granted and stay at home on what is expected to be the coldest of any caucus day in history, with temperatures falling below 0F when Republicans are supposed to head to their caucus sites to hear pitches for the candidates and cast their ballots.
Those who are older or live in rural areas, groups with Trump performs strongly, might be hit especially hard by the deep freeze. The Politico website reported that his campaign is signing up drivers with four-wheel-drive cars in key areas to shuttle supporters to caucus sites.
Meanwhile rivals Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley kept up the pressure by holding in-person events across the state on Saturday. DeSantis’s campaign claims that the time and effort it has put into a “ground game” will be rewarded.
DeSantis told supporters in Des Moines: “It’s going to be cold. It’s not going to be pleasant. But if you’re willing to go out there and you’re willing to fight for me … then as president I’ll be fighting for you for the next eight years.”
Political analysts will be watching the impact of the weather closely. Frank Luntz, a consultant and pollster, said: “This would be a record cold and that’s going to have an impact on the oldest voters, because they simply can’t go out, and the youngest voters because they don’t want to go out.
“So that’s tough news for Vivek Ramaswamy because his vote is so young and it’s tough news for Donald Trump because he has the oldest voters. But in the end, I don’t think it’s going to change the outcome.”
Luntz, who was a longtime adviser to Republican campaign, said of the “Make America great again” faithful: “If the world had ended, they would still be voting for Donald Trump.”
