Trump boasts of voter loyalty; Beck speaks at rally for Cruz
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa – Donald Trump is so confident about the loyalty of his supporters that he predicted Saturday they would stick with him even if he shot someone.
The Republican presidential front-runner bashed conservative commentator Glenn Beck’s support of rival Ted Cruz and welcomed a figure from the GOP establishment, Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, in rallies nine days before the Iowa caucuses open voting in the 2016 campaign.
“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn’t lose any voters, OK?” Trump told a Christian audience at Dordt College. “It’s like incredible.”
Beck campaigned for Ted Cruz and held little back in going after Trump. “The time for silliness and reality show tactics has passed,” Beck charged at a Cruz rally. He warned a Trump victory in the Feb. 1 caucuses could have consequences: “If Donald Trump wins, it’s going to be a snowball to hell.”
Trump demonstrated the extent to which some in the Republican establishment have begun to accept a potential Trump nomination when Grassley introduced him at a later event in Pella.
Grassley did not offer an endorsement, but his presence underscored Trump’s position at the top of the polls. Alex Conant, speaking for Marco Rubio’s campaign, was quick to note, however, that Grassley will introduce Rubio at an Iowa rally in a week.
Days after Trump was endorsed by tea party favorite Sarah Palin, Cruz flashed his own conservative muscle during a rally in Ankeny, Iowa. Rep. Steve King, an Iowa Republican and conservative firebrand, and Iowa social conservative leader Bob Vander Plaats encouraged local Republicans to unite behind Cruz.
At his event, Trump called Beck a “loser” and “sad sack.” Beck was one of nearly two dozen conservative thinkers who penned anti-Trump essays for National Review magazine.
Cruz, running close with Trump in Iowa polls, was almost entirely focused on the billionaire in his Ankeny event, as he professed core conservative values and drew a sharp contrast with Trump on issue after issue, without using his name.
With exaggeration, he charged one Republican candidate, “for over 60 years of his life,” supported so-called partial-birth abortion and a “Bernie Sanders-style socialized medicine for all.” Trump is 69.
Elsewhere in Iowa, Rubio stressed he represents the next generation of conservative leadership as he started the dash to the caucuses at Iowa State University.
“Complaining and being frustrated alone will not be enough,” Rubio said. “It has to be someone who tells you exactly what they are going to do as president.”