As he faces mounting legal challenges including new allegations of criminal misconduct in the case already brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith over his handling of classified documents from his time in office, former President Donald Trump walked onstage this week in Iowa to a song that, right as he appeared, featured lyrics about possibly going to prison.
“As Trump took the stage in Iowa, this ironic line played: “One could end up going to prison, one just might be president,”” Natalie Allison of POLITICO shared online, with video of the event. “He had to walk out to Brooks & Dunn (like all candidates tonight) instead of his usual Lee Greenwood.”
At this same event, Will Hurd — a former Congressman from Texas and current contender for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 — also appeared, and as recounted by Kaitlan Collins of CNN, he argued that Trump was furthering his own run for the White House specifically with an eye towards avoiding time in prison. “Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison,” Hurd argued to attendees, with listeners booing in response.
Hurd is on a long list of candidates now running for the nomination against Trump, though Donald’s challengers from inside the Republican Party are generally polling far behind him. Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis, who was originally among those who looked most promising for Republicans hoping to replace Trump, has sunk dramatically, having often posted better poll numbers before he confirmed his expected presidential campaign. According to weighted totals maintained by the elections data and analysis site FiveThirtyEight, DeSantis now averages just over 15 percent of the support in national surveys, with Trump past a majority.
DeSantis has become known for his defense of the GOP line amid culture war issues, from abortion and parents’ control of education to policies that stand to majorly impact communities of undocumented immigrants. DeSantis has even demanded new data collection on the cost of providing health care to such individuals, leading to concerns of facilitating further targeting of these groups.
As Trump took the stage in Iowa, this ironic line played: “One could end up going to prison, one just might be president.”
He had to walk out to Brooks & Dunn (like all candidates tonight) instead of his usual Lee Greenwood. pic.twitter.com/Ial80MXp76
— Natalie Allison (@natalie_allison) July 29, 2023
