Former US president Donald Trump and his top rivals for the Republican presidential nomination took the stage one by one on Friday night to address an influential gathering of Iowa Republicans.
Mr Trump’s competitors mostly reserved their sharpest criticism for US president Joe Biden and a Democratic Party they argued had lost touch with mainstream America — failing to pounce on additional counts over Mr Trump’s retention of classified documents that might have otherwise been an opportunity to cut into his comfortable early lead in the polls.
“The time for excuses is over. We must get the job done,” said Ron DeSantis. “I will get the job done.”
The Florida governor also repeated his frequent promise to halt the “weaponisation” of the Justice Department, an allusion to Mr Trump’s legal troubles.
But he offered no specific thoughts on the cases against him — even though Mr Trump is also bracing to be charged soon in Washington over his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The former president frequently avoids attending multicandidate events in person, questioning why he would share a stage with competitors who are badly trailing him in polls.
Still, with Iowa’s first-in-the-nation caucus less than six months away, Mr Trump joined a dozen other Republican hopefuls in speaking to about 1,200 party members and activists at the Lincoln Day Dinner.
“If I weren’t running, I would have nobody coming after me,” Mr Trump said in his only veiled reference to his legal issues.
He also insisted the same would be true if he were trailing in the polls.
While Mr DeSantis did not mention the former president by name, Mr Trump did not return the favour.
He told the crowd, “I wouldn’t take a chance on that one”, and repeatedly branded him “DeSanctus”.
Mr Trump was even more blunt before the dinner as he opened a campaign office in Urbandale, outside Des Moines.
He said: “I understand the other candidates are falling very flat… it’s like death.”
More than 100 people packed the small office, many wearing Make America Great Again hats and shirts.
Similar strong support for the former president was evident during the dinner, when many attendees wore Trump Country stickers.
Mr DeSantis, who like most of Friday’s speakers vowed to visit all of Iowa’s 99 counties, is Mr Trump’s strongest primary competitor but has been trying to reset his stalled campaign for two weeks.
Mr Trump, meanwhile, did face criticism from some Republican opponents, but only those considered long shots.
Former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchison declared, “As a party, we need a new direction for America and for the GOP”, drawing only muted reaction from the crowd.
Loud and sustained boos came, however, for Will Hurd, a former Texas congressman, who said: “The reason Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 is he failed to grow the GOP brand.
“Donald Trump is not running for president to make America great again… Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison.”
