Republican candidates see opening against Trump in Iowa

DES MOINES — Two Republican presidential candidates looking up at Donald Trump in the polls — one who has to look even farther than the other — said Tuesday they believe Trump’s support is not yet etched in stone, and that another candidate can still be successful in the Iowa GOP caucuses.

Trump holds commanding leads in polling on the Republican presidential primary campaign, both in Iowa and nationally. He is nearly 40 percentage points ahead of the field in Real Clear Politics’ rolling average of national polls, and was 24 points clear of the field in a recent poll from the New York Times and Siena College that surveyed Iowa Republicans.

Despite those numbers, South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott was defiant Tuesday when a reporter asked whether he believes Trump’s advantage is insurmountable.

“No, of course not. That’s why I’m campaigning here,” Scott said during a brief huddle with reporters after he appeared with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. “Because I believe that my optimistic, positive message is being rooted in Iowa. … The good news is we have enough time to make this not into a two-horse race, and at the end of the day we look forward to being the nominee.”

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Scott polled at 9 percent in that New York Times/Siena College poll, which was good for third — well behind Trump (44 percent) and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (20).

Even farther down that poll of Iowa Republicans was former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who clocked in at less than half a percent. Hutchinson also was at the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday, and he, too, said he believes Trump’s support here can be whittled. Hutchinson said he believes many Trump supporters are just expressing support for him now as a “default” while they consider other candidates.

“First of all, the overwhelming numbers (of Iowans who) are saying, ‘We’re looking at an alternative. We think that Trump did a good job for four years, but he’s not going to be able to lead us to victory.’ That’s a big part of their decision making process,” Hutchinson told reporters after his own appearance with Reynolds. “I think Trump’s numbers are a default position until (voters) decide on a good alternative. And right now, they’re not deciding until after the debate, until farther in. …

“You don’t jump from one candidate to another until you decide where you’re jumping. That’s where (voters) haven’t decided.”

In that New York Times/Siena College poll, nearly half the respondents who said they are supporting Trump said they also are considering other candidates.

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Candidates on latest Trump indictments

On the latest indictment of Trump — involving his attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia — Hutchinson was much more critical than Scott.

Hutchinson said the charges brought against Trump are “serious” and “address fundamental issues of our democracy.”

“So he ought to be held accountable,” Hutchinson said of Trump. “I’ve said that he’s morally accountable. The question now is whether he’s criminally accountable.”

Scott, on the other hand, dismissed the latest charges against Trump, which follow previous indictments involving Trump’s role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, his handling of classified documents after leaving the White House and an alleged hush money payment to a former porn star.

“I’m just going to continue to say it as I see it, which is that we see the legal system being weaponized against political opponents,” Scott said, even though the latest charges were brought by a county-level district attorney’s office in Georgia and not a federal prosecutor. “That is un-American and unacceptable. At the end of the day, we need a better system than that.”

Qualifying for the debate

Scott has qualified for the Aug. 23 Republican primary debate, but Hutchinson has so far failed to reach the 40,000 required donors to be on the stage. Candidates have until Monday to qualify.

“I expect to be there, looking forward to that,” Hutchinson said. “And we’re actually planning and preparing for it. Beyond that, there’s not a question. We intend to be there.”

Trump has not confirmed if he will attend the debate, and he frequently has suggested he will skip it.

Ryan Binkley also joins Reynolds

Ryan Binkley, a Texas pastor and long-shot candidate, also spoke with Reynolds at the State Fair, bringing a message that ties his Christian background with a pitch to deliver bipartisan economic reform.

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“As president, I will no longer vilify every Democrat on Friday and then ask them to work with me on Tuesday,” he said. “I will try and lead the way in a bipartisan way because there’s some problems we have, Republicans can’t solve on our own.”

Those issues include the budget, securing the border and improving the health care system, Binkley said.

He said Trump did “a lot of good things” but he put some of the blame of the high national debt on his shoulders. With a large unfunded tax cut and COVID-19 relief spending, Trump’s presidency saw the national debt increase by $7.8 trillion.

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