Iowa Democratic Party Statement on the Final Weekend Before the Caucus

Iowa Democratic Party Chair Rita Hart released the following statement ahead of Donald Trump, Nikki Haley, and Ron DeSantis’ events on the final weekend before the 2024 Republican caucus.

“In this final weekend before the caucuses, I’d like to thank Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Nikki Haley and the rest of the MAGA field for pouring over $100 million into the Iowa economy – the most good that any of them has ever done for rural America.

“For years, these extreme Republicans have all put Wall Street over rural communities, rigging the economy for their ultra-wealthy donors off the backs of working Iowans. With records that disastrous, Iowans are grateful to have champions for rural communities in President Biden and Vice President Harris, who have delivered investments for every one of Iowa’s 99 counties, worked to expand rural health care, upgraded rural infrastructure and more – and they’ll help send them back to the White House this year.”

Here’s what you need to know about how the MAGA agenda leaves behind rural communities:

Donald Trump:

  • He proposed cuts to agriculture programs every single year he was president.

  • Under Trump, Iowa’s exports fell by hundreds of millions of dollars in 2018.

  • Trump has spent years trying to end the Affordable Care Act, which extended health care to more than 100,000 Iowans.

Nikki Haley

  • As governor, Haley vetoed aid for South Carolina farmers, saying farmers had plenty of other options to recoup their losses.

  • Nikki Haley also refused to expand Medicaid, depriving more than 180,000 South Carolinians of health care.

  • Rather than focus on growing rural economies, Nikki Haley campaigned on eliminating the state’s corporate interest tax, once again putting corporations over working people.

Ron DeSantis

  • DeSantis voted against the 2014 farm bill, which provided a key safety net for Iowa farmers.

  • DeSantis has also refused to expand Medicaid in Florida, leaving hundreds of thousands of Floridians without health care.

  • Just last year, DeSantis vetoed $100 million in funding designed to help ranchers and farmers in Florida.

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