Donald J. Trump attacked Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida on Friday over his help for farmers, saying his chief rival for the Republican presidential nomination can be “a disaster” for the nation’s agriculture trade.
Mr. Trump claimed at a rally in Iowa that Mr. DeSantis would outsource American farming jobs abroad and oppose the federal mandate for ethanol, a gasoline created from corn and different crops. Help for ethanol, which Iowa is a nationwide chief in producing, is a quadrennial challenge in presidential elections on this early voting state.
In 2017, Mr. DeSantis supported laws that may finish the renewable gasoline normal, an almost two-decade-old normal that requires refiners to mix biofuel into gasoline nationwide. The coverage is opposed by some conservatives, who see the mandate as onerous authorities regulation.
Talking to greater than 2,000 supporters in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Friday, Mr. Trump rattled off his document of delivering on priorities for conservative farmers, together with elevating the exemption restrict on the property tax and changing the North American Free Commerce Settlement. Then, he eagerly highlighted what he claimed was his rival’s historical past of opposing a problem that carries outsize political weight in Iowa.
“He has been preventing for years to kill each single job supported by this very important trade,” he mentioned of ethanol. “If he had his manner, the whole financial system of Iowa would completely collapse.”
Bryan Griffin, a spokesman for the DeSantis marketing campaign, mentioned in an e mail that Mr. Trump’s feedback had been an indication of his “eroding help” in Iowa.
“This sadly isn’t the primary occasion of Donald Trump distorting the governor’s document, and we all know it gained’t be the final,” Mr. Griffin mentioned. “As president, Ron DeSantis will probably be a champion for farmers and use each software out there to open new markets.”
The occasion marked Mr. Trump’s first giant occasion within the state in practically 4 months, after a rally scheduled for Might was canceled by the marketing campaign, which cited attainable extreme climate.
Held in a conference corridor close to the Nebraska border, the rally was full of voters from the neighboring — and non-early voting — state.
“I hope Nebraska is represented right here,” Mr. Trump mentioned as the gang exploded in cheers. “That’s a giant contingent.”
