Younger Branstad crisscrosses Iowa to campaign for Trump

WASHINGTON - As Washington residents gathered to watch the vice presidential debate Wednesday, Trump campaign senior adviser Eric Branstad stopped by the county Republican headquarters.

Branstad took a break from the campaign trail to sit and visit with supporters.

Branstad has traveled 8,000 miles across the state in the last three weeks. On Saturday, he joined a bus tour with former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitacker, the national campaign leader Mark Lauder and Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Branstad said it is important to talk with voters in all 99 counties.

The energy for the president has been unlike anything he has seen, Branstad said. Twice what it was in 2016.

He has been to six boat parades and a tractor parade.

The first boat parade he attended at Lake Okoboji was a record for a week until it was surpassed by Trump parade in Miami, Branstad said.

'I have never seen the pure, grassroots, organic energy,” he said. 'You can't buy that kind of movement or support.”

As he travels the state, Branstad said he hears Iowans ask for safety, law and order, and police support.

Branstad said a friend from Clinton called and told him over the last couple years he has had more opportunities for jobs and income growth.

He credited this to the 'Trump economy.”

'Even now with the challenges we have through COVID, the Trump economy has stayed strong,” Branstad said.

One policy change Trump has made that Branstad said helps Iowans is the rejection of the small refineries waivers.

The Trump administration rejected requests from U.S. oil refiners for waivers that would have retroactively spared them from a requirement to blend biofuels like ethanol into their fuel.

Branstad said the president loves and cares about Iowa. He said Trump wants to make Iowans safer, healthier and more successful.

'This is a president who made promises in 2016, and he's delivered on all of them,” he said.

As he travels the state, the first thing people say is that they are praying for the president after he tested positive for COVID-19. The campaign is taking additional safety measures. Branstad has purchased Make America Great Again masks and has been holding events outdoors.

Fundraising in Iowa has gone well, Branstad said, with people calling him wanting to give money to the campaign.

'Usually you have to call them,” he said.

As a senior adviser in the campaign, Branstad said he has committed that he is going to do more this election than he has done before.

'I've given more money than I've ever given before, I've knocked on more doors than I've ever knocked before,” he said.

He said if he is going to ask people to volunteer and donate, he is going to be the first one in line.

He is not the only one with the last name Branstad crisscrossing the state for Trump. His dad, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, recently returned from his stint as ambassador to China to join the campaign efforts.

Starting next week the senior Branstad is booked every day up to the election on Nov. 3.