Former President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign event in Iowa on January 14 (Photo: Reuters).
Iowa officials said the weather in the area has been "dangerously cold" in recent days, as temperatures plunged to record lows after days of snowfall.
However, the inclement weather did not stop hundreds of people from turning out to meet former President Donald Trump on January 14 in Indianola, a small town south of Des Moines, the capital of Iowa.
A day before the Iowa caucuses, they wore Make America Great Again (MAGA) hats and shirts at a Trump campaign event. More than three years after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of President Joe Biden’s victory and a series of impeachments followed, Republican support for Trump remains steady.
Mr. Trump won 51% of the vote in Iowa on January 15, far ahead of his rivals, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley. Mr. DeSantis and Ms. Haley came in second and third place with 21% and 19% of the vote, respectively.
George Hutton, a Trump supporter in Madison County, said Trump's Republican opponents were "wasting their time."
“I think Trump is going to win by a bigger margin than they think,” Hutton said, referring to the Iowa caucuses.
At the Iowa rally, attendees stood in a line outside the community college where Trump spoke for 15 minutes in freezing temperatures. Once inside, many did not even get to see the Republican presidential frontrunner in person. Instead, they watched his speech on a screen in a room where the main event space was full.
When voting begins on January 15 in Iowa, the question is not whether Mr. Trump will win, but by what margin.
Economic issues
While for many Americans, Mr Trump's presidency has been marked by chaos and inflammatory rhetoric, the former president's supporters have long highlighted his time in the Oval Office.
Trump supporters interviewed by Al Jazeera cited three main reasons for their support: the economy, immigration and global instability. Trump’s outgoing personality and legal issues also contributed to his appeal.
The Biden administration has declared the US economy "healthy", highlighting low unemployment, strong growth and infrastructure investment, while noting that the inflation that devastated the global economy during the Covid-19 pandemic is under control.
But Trump voters have pointed to their own economic woes as well as high interest rates to paint a different picture of the economy.
“We need something different than what we’re doing right now. It’s not working. That says a lot about where the economy is,” said David Brunell, 32, a Trump supporter.
The question is why voters don't consider Mr Trump's other Republican rivals? Supporters say Mr Trump is a popular figure and they have seen how he ran the country as president.
"We just want our country back. We want our country back to the way it was when he was president and better," Hutton said.
Brunell seemed to agree. Brunell said he never considered other Republican candidates because Trump had a “good record and could go a long way.”
Foreign affairs
Trump supporters attend a campaign event in Iowa on January 14 (Photo: Reuters).
While foreign policy has rarely been a top issue in recent US elections, some Trump supporters have pointed to the wars in Ukraine and Gaza as a result of poor policies under President Biden.
As president, Mr. Trump has been very pro-Israel. He moved the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, ended U.S. funding for the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) and brokered diplomatic deals between Israel and Arab countries.
President Biden has made a similar commitment to Israel. But for Trump supporters, the turmoil in the region is not about specific policies, but about the leader’s character.
Congressman Jim Jordan has said that the war in Ukraine would not have happened if Mr. Trump had been president.
“We’ve gone from President Trump, who has shown strength around the world, to Joe Biden,” said Rep. Jordan.
Blaine Melvin, a groundskeeper at the local university, lamented the state of the world and America under President Biden.
“This is the closest I've ever seen to World War III,” Melvin warned.
The Biden administration last week ordered military strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen after the group continued to attack Israeli-linked ships, demanding that Israel end its war in Gaza.
While in office, Mr. Trump also pushed hard-line policies in the Middle East. He ordered a strike on top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani and withdrew Washington from a multilateral nuclear deal that had Tehran scaling back its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.
A group of Republican voters, who have become increasingly skeptical of US military intervention abroad following the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, have so far supported Mr Trump.
Immigration issues
Since first announcing his presidential bid in 2015, Mr. Trump has made immigration a focus of his agenda, sometimes using tough language aimed at immigrants.
The number of people arriving at the southern US border has skyrocketed, including more than 2 million last year.
President Biden has also tried to curb illegal immigration, despite criticism from immigrant rights groups and progressives. But his policies still pale in comparison to Trump’s harsh rhetoric on the issue.
“He’s a strong leader. He’s tightened our borders,” Bob Snyder, a Des Moines resident, said of Mr. Trump.
On January 14, Mr. Trump continued to emphasize restricting immigration and efforts to build a border wall with Mexico.
The Biden administration is also seeking to portray Mr Trump as a threat to American democracy, accusing him of trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
But supporters of the Republican frontrunner say the current administration is the real threat to democracy, arguing that the charges Trump faces are politically motivated and aimed at undermining the 2024 election.
“The charges are false,” Snyder said.
Mr. Trump is facing criminal charges for attempting to overturn the 2020 vote. However, these cases do not seem to matter much to his supporters.
At a pre-election campaign event in Iowa, Mr. Trump spoke for an hour and 40 minutes, switching between topics — from immigration to foreign policy, economics to personal anecdotes — drawing laughter and cheers from the crowd.
Asked what he liked about Mr Trump, Evan Walker, 18, a first-time voter, said: "I like his personality more, he knows what he's doing. He's very outgoing."
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