Former President Trump claims credit for Iowa Gov. Reynolds’ 2018 election success

DES MOINES — Kim Reynolds’ ascension to governor of Iowa and her first election victory are all thanks to Donald Trump, the former president asserted Monday in a social media post.

In his post, Trump noted that he “opened up the governor position” for Reynolds in 2017 by selecting former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad as his ambassador to China, then claimed credit for her election victory a year later.

Trump’s post came after the New York Times published an article over the weekend describing apparent strains between Reynolds and Trump’s campaign. The Times reported that Trump and his campaign feel Reynolds is betraying her pledge to remain neutral in the Republican presidential primary by being friendlier to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his campaign.

The Times article also described competing narratives from Reynolds’ team and Trump’s campaign over her attendance — or lack thereof — at Trump campaign events this year, compared with her attendance at DeSantis campaign events.

Trump posted his thoughts Monday on Truth Social, the social media site that was created for him after he was suspended from Twitter in 2021 for spreading misinformation about the 2020 presidential election that he lost.

Trump wrote: “I opened up the Governor position for Kim Reynolds, & when she fell behind, I ENDORSED her, did big Rallies, & she won. Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL.’ I don’t invite her to events! DeSanctus down 45 points!“

Reynolds ascended from lieutenant governor to become Iowa’s first female governor in 2017 when Branstad left to become ambassador. Reynolds, a Republican, then won her first election atop the ticket in 2018, edging Democrat Fred Hubbell by just less than 3 percentage points. Many polls on that 2018 Iowa governor’s campaign — including the final two Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Polls before the election — showed Hubbell in the lead. Trump campaign in Iowa twice in 2018.

In 2022, Reynolds cruised to re-election by 19 percentage points.

Reynolds’ staff did not respond Monday to a request for comment about Trump’s post from her campaign.

Reynolds has pledged to remain neutral during this year’s presidential primary election season, as have most Iowa governors in the past. Typically, Iowa’s governor acts as a host to all presidential candidates who visit the state that historically has kicked off the nation’s presidential election season.

Reynolds attended Trump’s campaign event in Davenport in April, but was not scheduled to appear at a Trump rally in Des Moines in May that was canceled due to severe weather forecasts, did not appear with him while he campaigned in the state in early June, and did not appear at his rally in Council Bluffs last week.

However, Reynolds has appeared with DeSantis at a PAC-hosted event in Des Moines before he was an official presidential candidate, and at his first official campaign event in suburban Des Moines. Reynolds also appeared with DeSantis’ wife, Casey, at a campaign event last week in suburban Des Moines.

Trump did not directly respond when asked by The Gazette during his campaign trip to Iowa in June whether he might, if he secures the nomination, choose Reynolds as his running mate.

“Well, I have a lot of people that I consider,” Trump told The Gazette. “We have some great people. Whoever it is, it’ll be somebody who will be terrific. We’re gonna have a lot of great people. We have incredible people in the Republican Party.”

While there has not yet been much independent polling on the Republican presidential primary in Iowa, national polling has consistently showed Trump as a strong front-runner over the rest of the field. DeSantis, in those national polls, typically is second.

In Real Clear Politics’ averaging of national polls, Trump has a 32.1-point advantage over DeSantis and the rest of the Republican field: Trump is polling nationally at an average of 53 percent, and DeSantis at 20.9 percent, according to Real Clear Politics.

DeSantis weighed in later Monday, tweeting out his compliments of Reynolds.

.@KimReynoldsIA is a strong leader who knows how to ignore the chirping and get it done. She earned a landslide re-election because she delivered big results, and she is poised to deliver even more for Iowans in the special session.

— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) July 10, 2023

“(Reynolds) is a strong leader who knows how to ignore the chirping and get it done,” DeSantis tweeted from his individual Twitter account, also referencing Reynolds’ 2022 election victory and Tuesday’s special session of the Iowa Legislature in which Iowa Republicans plan to sign into law an expansive restriction on abortion access.

Republican U.S. Rep. Ashley Hinson, of Marion, also came to Reynolds’ defense Monday on social media. Hinson posted on Twitter, “Iowa is lucky to have the best Governor in the country!”

Iowa is lucky to have the best Governor in the country!

We’re fighting alongside @KimReynoldsIA every single day to push back against Biden’s radical agenda and fire him in 2024! pic.twitter.com/gEAENc7HP4

— Ashley Hinson (@hinsonashley) July 10, 2023

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