amna: With the summer campaign
season in full swing, the
Republican presidential hopefuls
are criss-crossing early voting
states, hoping to stand out in a
growing field of candidates.
Former president Donald Trump,
back in Iowa today.
>> Make America great again.
That's a very simple statement.
Amna: With a commanding lead in
the polls for the Republican
presidential nomination.
And spouting his familiar and
false claims of a stolen
election.
>> Then you had a rigged
election, let's face it.
Amna: But for some GOP voters
who like trump's message, there
are still questions about his
style.
>> The person I want is so
divisive that it's just like,
you know, can't you please just
get along with people?
Amna: Others are ready to move
on entirely.
>> Trump's really powerful.
You can't dismiss him or
undersell him in any way.
But we've already seen that.
Amna: In Iowa this week, a few
hundred people looking for an
alternative to trump packed into
this evangelical church
auditorium to see his major
rival.
Florida governor Ron Desantis
made his first early state
appearance as an official
candidate, touting his record
handling the covid pandemic and
challenging what can be taught
in schools.
>> In Florida, we proved that
all of this can be done.
We chose facts over fear.
We chose education over
indoctrination.
We chose law and order over
rioting and disorder.
Amna: Trump has grown
increasingly critical of the
governor in recent weeks,
calling him "Ron disaster" and
"Ron desanctimonious."
>> If it takes eight years to
turn this around, you don't want
him.
Amna: Desantis delivered his
most forceful pushback yet.
>> He used to say how great
Florida was.
Hell, his whole family moved to
Florida under my governorship.
Are you kidding me?
Amna: Some voters believe
Desantis offers greater
potential to reach beyond the
GOP base.
>> I think we need a candidate
who won't be divisive and can
actually get independents to
also vote for him.
Amna: With half a dozen
candidates already in the race,
other contenders are hoping to
catch fire with voters in the
critical early nominating
states.
Whether it's former governor
Nikki Haley answering questions
about abortion in the granite
state.
>> I'm being very honest with
you, I can't suddenly change my
pro-life position because I'm
campaigning in New Hampshire.
Amna: Or senator Tim Scott
sharing his life story.
>> When I look back and I look
forward in our nation, I
understand the misery uniquely
that comes with broken pieces
and a broken family and a broken
heart.
Putting those together for our
nation is my responsibility.
Amna: A strong performance in
Iowa, New Hampshire, or south
Carolina could propel underdog
campaigns into competitive
spots.
>> We absolutely have to win
because I think our country is
done if we have to do another
four years on the current path.
And I'm going to be paying very
close attention to see who can
win.
Amna: The candidates will soon
have more competition.
Former New Jersey governor Chris
Christie, North Dakota governor
Doug burgum, and former vice
president Mike pence are all
expected to launch campaigns for
the Republican nomination next
week.
For an on-the-ground look at the
candidates and voters in early
states, I'm joined by Kay
Henderson, the news director for
radio Iowa and moderator of Iowa
press on Iowa pbs.
And Gavin Jackson, a reporter
for pbs station South Carolina
etv and host of this week in
South Carolina.
Welcome to you both.
Kay, let's begin in Iowa.
The caucus is, of course, still
the first in the nation for the
Republicans.
Obviously, the candidates
showing up there early and
often.
How is that resonating with
voters on the ground?
What do they tell you they're
looking for?
Kay: Well, it depends on the
person you ask.
One of the people at a trump
event today said to me, it
appears to him that the
nomination is trump's to lose.
When you go to Desantis events,
they're looking for something
different.
They're looking for something
new there.
And in fact, one of the people
that I interviewed on Monday
told me that he's looking for
someone who's not geriatric.
There's a fear among some
Desantis people that putting a
rematch of trump versus Biden
would not turn out well for the
party.
But iowans are not by any means
making up their minds as a group
right now.
They're sampling other
candidates, Nikki Haley, Tim
Scott, the south carolinians.
There was a small group that met
with vice president Mike pence
earlier in may, and of course,
he will be coming to Iowa next
week to announce he's jumping in
the race.
One of the dynamics here is that
the more people that enter this
race, the likelier that Donald
Trump will be able to prevail in
the Iowa caucuses, just because
of the sheer number of people in
the race.
Amna: Gavin, what about in south
Carolina?
What are you hearing from voters
there?
Gavin: Yeah, similar to what Kay
was talking about there.
I mean, I just got off of a
swing from Tim Scott's campaign
launch.
You know, he launched on may 22
in North Charleston.
It was a very similar launch to
what we saw with Nikki Haley
making her bid in February.
And I followed both of those
candidates to the battleground
states in Iowa and New Hampshire
after their launches in south
Carolina.
And a lot of folks are saying
the same things in those early
voting states as they're saying
re in South Carolina.
They're waiting to see this
field gel.
They're trying to see who has
the strongest message, since so
many people have similar
messages, too.
And that's not too dissimilar
from what we're hearing from Tim
Scott and Nikki Haley, talking
about their backgrounds,
introducing themselves to voters
out there in Iowa and new
Hampshire.
As we await to hear from more
candidates on the ground here in
South Carolina, obviously,
Florida governor Ron Desantis is
stopping in South Carolina on
Friday as part of his 12 city
swing, a huge kind of campaign
launch that we've seen from Ron
Desantis that we didn't see from
Tim Scott the other day.
You know, he had a big kickoff
in North Charleston, but then he
went to Iowa, had one town hall,
handled it pretty well, had
about 200, 300 people there, had
a roundtable with some educators
as well, and then went to new
Hampshire and had a small meet
and greet with some new
Hampshire Republican women.
So a bit different from what
we're seeing from Ron Desantis
and from what we saw with Nikki
Haley.
She had multiple town hall
events, too.
So it seems like Tim Scott's
really trying to get into
campaign mode right now from
that listening tour mode.
Amna: But, Gavin, when you talk
to these folks in the early
voting states, though, are there
particular issues that they're
really paying attention to?
We heard Nikki Haley talking
about abortion access.
Ron Desantis has been leading
into this anti-woke message.
Right.
We heard all the candidates
bashing the debt ceiling deal
here in D.C.
Does any of that matter to those
voters?
Gavin: Yeah, you know, you hear
a lot on the stump about, you
know, anti-woke fighting against
this, you know, this victimhood
stuff that we're talking about.
And it gets a lot of applause
lines out there.
But actually, day to day voters,
you know, that's not the first
thing that they bring up when I
ask them, what are your top
issues?
It's the economy, it's
education.
It's making sure that the
country can move forward.
And so maybe that does have to
do with that, you know,
anti-wokeness worried about
political correctness and trying
to move the country forward as
they see has been kind of
stagnant under president Joe
Biden.
So folks are waiting to hear
from more of these candidates.
And I mean, we're seeing them
turn out too.
Nikki Haley has a crowd of about
1000 people in South Carolina,
which was in Myrtle Beach
earlier this year.
She got about 500 people in
Greer.
I've seen Ron Desantis when he
was making his tour through the
state earlier before he
declared, and here about 1000
people at a church up in
Spartanburg on a Wednesday
night.
So the momentum is there.
People are interested to hear
what these folks have to say.
No one's really making up their
mind yet, which is tough for Tim
Scott and Nikki Haley since
they're the home grown
candidates here.
They want to win their home
state.
And right now it's up for grabs.
Amna: Kay, what about you?
Are you hearing that same thing
in terms of priority of issues
among the voters?
Kay: Well, I think what it boils
down to is voters are making an
evaluation versus style, and
some of them are making an
evaluation versus on substance.
And some of them are trying to
decide which way they'll go,
whether they want the candidate
that campaigns and the style
that they prefer or the
candidate that's, you know, has
the substance that they want.
For instance, there appears to
be an emerging debate between
Desantis and trump about the way
the pandemic was handled in
Florida versus the way president
trump handled the pandemic in
March of 2020 nationwide.
That's turning into a key issue
for some voters in Iowa.
And also, when you talk to
voters who aren't on the trump
bandwagon at this point, they
all say they liked the
accomplishments of the trump
presidency, they just didn't
like the style of the trump
presidency and what's been
happening over the past couple
of years.
And so if they can get over that
by, you know, as a trump
campaign, having these smaller
events like they had today, many
of the people I talked to after
that event today said it was low
key.
He felt more relatable to them,
and he was saying the same
things that he says at the big
rallies but it was about style
and their connection to him in a
smaller setting.
Amna: You mentioned the 2016
primaries, and obviously in that
crowded field that benefited
Donald Trump, he came in second
in Iowa to Ted Cruz, but he won
New Hampshire.
We are still many months to go,
but does it look like the same
thing could happen?
Could a crowded field again
benefit Donald Trump?
Kay: Absolutely, because at this
point, it appears if you look at
the polling in Iowa and
nationwide, that it's a two
person race, it's a
trump-desantis race with other
people hoping to fill a third
lane.
And when you have so many people
competing and when you have
trump really going after his
main competitor right now,
that's a dynamic that really
would benefit trump if you look
at the numbers.
Amna: Gavin, what's your take on
this, especially with two south
carolinians in the race now in
South Carolina, the first in the
south Republican primary.
Could that be a turning point
for Haley and Scott?
Gavin: It's going to be critical
come February with the primary.
Of course, we get to see what's
going on.
Iowa, New Hampshire, we're
seeing a lot of effort being put
into Iowa from both Tim Scott
and Nikki Haley.
They are seeing some comfort
there, some similarities there
with Iowa and South Carolina
that they're hoping to work on.
But of course, it comes down to
getting their names out there in
places like Iowa, New Hampshire.
Nikki Haley has a bit more name
I.D. In those places than Tim
Scott does, but Tim Scott has
plenty of money to get his name
out there on the airwaves right
now with, I think, a $6 million
ad buy from his campaign and
then his super pac also throwing
about $7 million in to some
advertising as well.
So it's going to come down to
South Carolina in terms of
deciding where this race goes
forward next year in 2024, still
a long way away.
We have to wait to see what
these polls do, with a wait and
see what happens on the debate
stage.
So, a lot will happen.
But, you know, if you don't win
your home state, that's going to
probably be a turning point
there for those guys for sure.
Amna: Still a long way to go.
We cannot say that enough.
Kay Henderson and Gavin Jackson
from our pbs families in Iowa
and South Carolina, for joining
us tonight.
♪♪