Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump told Iowa caucus-goers, on Monday (February 1) that he is a “messenger” for those wanting to take the country back as the state’s critical presidential primary got underway.
Candidates from both parties toured caucus sites to make their final campaign pitches as Iowans kicked off the first of the 2016 presidential nominating contests.
Trump and his wife Melania made an appearance at St. Francis of Assisi school in West Des Moines, where Trump told delegates that the country is in crisis.
“We don’t win anymore as a country, we used to win. We don’t win with the military, we don’t win at the border, we don’t win in any way,” he said.
Opinion polls showed Trump, a blunt-speaking billionaire businessman who has never held public office, with a small lead over his closest rival Ted Cruz, a conservative U.S. senator from Texas. But early caucus results show Cruz with a narrow lead over Trump.
A win for Trump could validate an aggressive campaign that has alarmed the Republican establishment, dwarfed the efforts of many seasoned politicians and been marked by controversies such as his calls for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States and for a wall along the Mexican border.
In West Des Moines Trump said he was a voice for those who wanted to restore American prestige.
“We are going to bring our country back. When I started this journey, and it really has been a journey, an amazing journey – it’s on the cover of Time magazine this week – people are talking about, all of us, it’s not just me, I’m a messenger, they’re talking about us, what’s happening… we’re going to take our country back, we’re going to run it the way it’s supposed to be run, as a great, great country,” he said.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio spoke to caucus-goers in the city of Clive, addressing an audience of several hundred.
“We will embrace the principles that made America great and we will apply them to the challenges of the 21st century, and when we do here’s what history will say of us – it will say that we too confronted our challenges and embraced our opportunities,” he said.
Opinion polls show foreign policy hawk Rubio with a possible third place win in Iowa that will stake a claim as the best hope for the party’s mainstream. (Reuters)
