‘I like everything about him’: The Trump faithful sing his praises in the heartland
Timothy P. Carney
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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — “I think he’s a godly man,” Sherry Carlson of Council Bluffs told me about former President Donald Trump. “He’s Christian. He stands for the American people and beliefs.”
I asked her husband Rod what he likes about Trump. “Everything. I like everything about him.”
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The Carlsons were among the hundreds of Trump supporters stuck outside the Mid-American Center in the rain as the ballroom hosting Trump’s speech hit its capacity. The upbeat crowd ranged from die-hard only-Trumpers (voters who said they can’t support anyone besides Trump in a general election) to some who are still undecided in the 2024 GOP primary.
Despite their oft-expressed antipathy towards reporters, the attendees were willing to share their feelings on the GOP front-runner.
The most common themes were Trump’s experience (his having already served a term in the White House) and immigration.
“He’s already proven when he was in there what he could do,” said Jason Lieber, a Republican voter from Council Bluffs. Lieber said Trump was a success on immigration, and pointed to much lower numbers of both legal immigration and undocumented border crossings under Trump than under President Joe Biden.
“The economy was good” under Trump, Larry Schroeder said, and that’s reason enough to give him a second term. “I thought world leaders respected him — or were afraid of him,” Schroeder added.
Michelle, a registered Democrat in her 50s who wouldn’t give her last name, said Trump would be a better president than Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) or any other Republicans because “He not only talks the talk, he walks the walk.”
A common theme in comments about the former president: These people felt that Trump was their guy. His enemies were their enemies. “He can’t be bought,” Kim Houfek said just before the rally. “He works for us regular people.”
Trump supporters also spoke of policy accomplishments, with toughness on immigration the most frequently mentioned. Others had their own highlights from Trump’s term in the White House.
“The biggest accomplishment was putting three people on the Supreme Court,” said Don Robinson, a man in his 70s from Clarinda in southwest Iowa. “That saved America.”
Others had more particular interests.
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Carl King of Bennington, Nebraska, cited Trump’s moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Julie Fredrickson, a Realtor and Republican politician near Lincoln, Nebraska, pointed to the “Right to Try” bill that Trump signed in 2018. “That let us try experimental treatments and drugs. I had a daughter that was waiting for a heart transplant, and it was important that we try all avenues. She was able to use some of those life-saving drugs. So it kept her alive. So he’s a lifesaver.”