No matter how many indictments come down, it’s still Donald Trump’s Republican Party

The former president continues to show his force even in Iowa, where his dominance isn’t total...yet

Donald Trump speaks during a rally at the Steer N' Stein bar at the Iowa State Fair on August 12, 2023 in Des Moines, Iowa. (Getty Images)

On Monday, a grand jury in Fulton County handed down yet another indictment against Donald Trump. The former president has now been indicted twice on the federal level thanks to Jack Smith’s investigation, in New York County thanks to Alvin Bragg’s investigation into allegedly falsifying business records related to his hush money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, and now on the local level for his scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.

All of this will certainly make Mr Trump less appealing to independent voters, suburbanites and other demographics Republicans will need to win the general election.

But Mr Trump’s legal troubles could not be further from the minds of voters in Iowa during the state fair this weekend when the embattled former president visited the Hawkeye State. In fact, as I noticed after his first federal indictment in North Carolina, it likely makes Republican voters rally around him even more and he would need a full show of support if he is to solidify his control of the GOP come next year.

Few states have vexed former president Donald Trump more than Iowa. In 2016, he narrowly lost the state to Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX), who pulled off a stunner against the then-political neophyte thanks to aggressive campaigning.

Mr Trump would win the state in 2016 and again in 2020 during the general elections, turning Iowa from a battleground state that had voted for a Democrat in all but one presidential election from 1992 to 2012 to a solidly Republican state.

Since then, though, he’s picked a fight with his the state’s Gov Kim Reynolds, a former ally, for her supposed closeness with his chief rival, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis. A New York Times/Siena College poll showed that Mr Trump’s lead in the Hawkeye State is large, but not as big as it is nationally or in other states like New Hampshire and South Carolina, both of which Mr Trump won in 2016.

But Mr Trump cemented his dominance this weekend when he visited the Iowa State Fair. Members of Congress from Florida’s Republican delegation such as Reps Byron Donalds, Anna Paulina Luna, Cory Mills Greg Steube and Matt Gaetz flanked him, a reminder that they had chosen to back Mr Trump over Mr DeSantis.

Furthermore, any sign that Mr Trump might be contrite about the actions that have led to his indictments was almost non-existent. Indeed, when Mr Gaetz, his most vociferous defender in the House, took to the stump, he said “we know that only through force can we make any change in a corrupt town like Washington DC.”

Similarly, when asked about whether he would comply with a protective order issued by Judge Tanya Chutkan for his case regarding his attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, Mr Trump said simply, “We’ll have to take a look at the order.”

The former president also faces a potential fourth indictment for his attempts to overturn the election results in Georgia. But those charges will likely do nothing to deter his supporters, given that he has convinced his fans that any legal action against him amounts to persecuction of them. Indeed, when he was asked whether he attempted to overturn the 2020 election, he said, “You know the answer to that.”

Mr Trump’s hold over the GOP also manifested in attendees tormenting the other candidates. Not surprisingly, former vice president Mike Pence and Mr DeSantis were the biggest targets. Of course, Mr Pence is the source of many Trump supporters’ ire because of his refusal to overturn the election results on January 6, which led to threats on his life.

And supporters attacked Mr Pence in one of the central parts of his persona: his faith, as one heckler said he was “far from a Christian,” which has to sting for a man who has long said he is a “Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order.”

Conversely, during Mr DeSantis’s jaunt, a plane flew by with a banner saying “Be Likable, Ron!” a reference to a phrase Mr Gaetz had uttered to Mr DeSantis during the latter’s 2018 gubernatorial campaign.

Mr DeSantis has struggled to shake the image of him being awkward, imperson and even rude, and Mr Trump has consistently bashed him. He attempted to have a show of force this weekend, touting his endorsement from conservative talk kingmaker Steve Deace, who propelled Mr Cruz during his 2016 victory in the state.

But even though Iowa might be slightly more competitive than other states, the fact remains that Republican voters still see the former president as the leader of the GOP. And that makes victory inifinitely more distant for any of his would-be challengers for the crown.