Former President Donald Trump cancels 3 of his 4 weekend campaign events
Written by ABC AUDIO on January 13, 2024
(IOWA) — Weather continues to impact the schedule of presidential candidates heading into the Iowa caucuses as former President Donald Trump has now canceled three out of his four in-person commit to caucus rallies.
Instead, Trump will hold a series of telerallies and is still expected to go forward with his in-person appearance at his commit to caucus rally in Indianola, Iowa.
“I’ll get there sometime around Saturday night or something, one way or the other I’m getting there. You have the worst weather I guess in recorded history, but maybe that’s good because our people are more committed than anyone else,” Trump said in a video message posted on X shortly after his campaign announced the schedule adjustments.
The video comes as the campaign had to cancel four surrogate events they had planned this week as Trump made voluntary court appearances on Tuesday and Thursday.
Trump was in Iowa on Wednesday for a Fox News town hall, but his last campaign event was on Jan. 6, where he delivered remarks in Newton and Clinton.
The four-stop Iowa swing this weekend would have served as the final boost for Trump in the final days of Iowa caucuses, during an election cycle when the former president has had a lighter campaign schedule compared to some of his GOP rivals.
So far this cycle, Trump has visited Iowa 21 times, compared to other Republican presidential hopefuls, who have visited the Hawkeye state dozens of times.
Yet still, Trump remained determined on Friday to make the most out of the situation.
“It’s gonna be a little bit of a trek. Nobody knows how exactly we’re gonna get there, but we’re gonna figure it out,” Trump continued in his video message.
Just as the campaign was announcing the cancelation of his rallies, Trump joined conservative radio show “The Mark Levin Show” to explain that he had to cancel the events because of the weather.
Now, Trump is scheduled to join three telerallies this weekend: One each on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Also on Monday – ahead of the caucuses – Donald Trump Jr. and Kimberly Guilfoyle are scheduled to campaign on behalf of Trump in Ankeny.
As the state braces for dangerous sub-zero temperatures and a once-in-a-decade blizzard, Trump and his team have remained confident at his chances at clinching the Hawkeye state while also tempering expectations.
“First of all, a win, a win is a win but anything over 12 [points] I think is a great night,” Trump senior campaign adviser Chris LaCivita told reporters Wednesday.
And despite the severe weather, Trump supporters ABC News spoke with were undeterred about going out to caucus for him on Jan. 15
“I’m definitely going to be there,” Nancy Iveling from Johnson, Iowa, who volunteers for the campaign, told ABC News. “We pray that the other people will show up too, regardless of the weather because this is an important cause and we need to win this race.”
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