Iowa raucous from Trump’s copter arrival
DONALD TRUMP’S high-flying flair was on full display Saturday at the Iowa State Fair.
The 2016 Republican presidential front-runner turned the family-friendly affair into a whirlwind campaign stop complete with an over-the-top entrance.
A herd of children dressed in oversized T-shirts emblazoned with Trump’s campaign logo surrounded the businessman after his personal helicopter landed in a private parking lot next to a baseball field about a mile from the fair grounds.
“I love children,” Trump declared as he turned to the kids. “I love Iowa, great place. I’ve really developed a relationship with it. And it’s an amazing place.”
As promised, a select number of kids were granted rides in the sleek machine.
Despite his penchant for sparking controversy with his caustic comments, Trump is leading the large field of GOP candidates in the latest Iowa polls. He argued that so far, he has not made any political missteps.
“I don’t think I’ve made mistakes. Every time somebody said I made a mistake, they do the polls and my numbers go up,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve made any mistakes. I’m sure I will at some point. But so far you have to say, hasn’t worked out badly, right?”
The real estate mogul spent an hour wading through the crowds inside the fairgrounds followed by a swarm of reporters and gawkers.
The helicopter, a $7 million Sikorsky S-76 completely Trumped-out with goldplated seat belts, handles and family crest, circled overhead, full of children.
Below the chopper there was corn, pork chops and corn dogs, and a cow made of butter, but the big draw was the candidates. The Hawkeye State’s early primary voting has made the massive fair a rite of passage for presidential wannabes.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton toured the grounds earlier in the day and used the platform to defend her use of a private email server during her time as Secretary of State — a shadow that has hung over her campaign from its onset.
“I never sent classified material on my email, and I never received any that was marked classified,” Clinton said.
Clinton, who turned the server over to the FBI to investigate its security last week, toured the fair with retired Sen. Tom Harkin before chowing down on a local favorite: pork chop on a stick.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ appearance at The Des Moines Register’s political “soapbox” brought out hundreds of people, who laughed when the self-proclaimed democratic socialist pointed to a helicopter flying overhead.
“There’s Donald Trump. What can we do?” Sanders quipped. “I apologize. We left the helicopter at home. It’s in the garage. We forgot to bring it.”