Donald Trump has been forced to make adjustments to his campaigning schedule in Iowa ahead of Monday’s caucuses, due to severe weather conditions in the state.
The changes were made “out of an abundance of caution amid severe weather advisories” and “to ensure the safety of Maga patriots across Iowa”, according to a campaign press release.
The former president was originally set to hold campaign events on Saturday and Sunday in Atlantic, Sioux City, Indianola and Cherokee.
On Friday, his team announced that several live appearances would be replaced with tele-rallies, with only one in-person event still taking place in Indianola.
It comes as blizzard warnings remain in place for large parts of the state, according to the National Weather Service, with Iowans advised to avoid outdoor activity if possible.
The former president was originally set to hold live campaign events on Saturday and Sunday in Iowa— (Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
In a video Mr Trump said that despite “the worst weather in recorded history” for the state, he and his team would “figure it out”.
“I’m leaving very shortly for your beautiful state. I love that state. I love the people in the state,” he said.
“I’ll get there sometime around Saturday night or something, one way or the other… You have the worst weather, I guess, in recorded history, but maybe that’s good because our people are more committed than anybody else.”
He added: “Nobody knows how exactly we’re gonna get there, but we’re going to figure it out.
“And we wouldn’t miss it for anything. So we have record cold weather, record snowfall, record everything, but we will not miss it.”
According to the former president’s new schedule, he will hold a tele-rally on Saturday at 7pm CT with Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. After the Indianola event on Sunday, Mr Trump will hold another tele-rally with state representative Bobby Kauffman at 5pm.
He is set to hold one last tele-rally at 12pm on the day of the Iowa caucuses – Monday 15 January.
Elsewhere, Trump supporters offered somewhat interesting suggestions as to the cause of the poor conditions.
Right-wing conspiracy theorist and anti-Muslim activist Laura Loomer appeared to suggest rival presidential hopeful Nikki Haley, along with the “Deep State” may have “manipulated” the weather.
“Is the Deep State activating HAARP (High-frequency Active Auroral Research Program) to disrupt the Iowa Caucus? We all know @NikkiHaley has a lot of friends in the defense industry and Military industrial complex,” Ms Loomer wrote on X.
“She’s losing in Iowa, and now Iowa is set to get hit with a ONCE IN A DECADE blizzard as Donald Trump is set to dominate the Iowa Caucus. Is the Deep State using HAARP to rig the Iowa Caucus?
“Looks like weather manipulation to me.”
