Tim Scott to hold event with Iowa GOP Gov. Kim Reynolds, whom Donald Trump spurned

Former President Donald Trump is mad at Gov. Kim Reynolds (R-IA) for giving his GOP primary rivals the time of day. Reynolds’s town hall with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) in Ankeny, Iowa, is only likely to enrage Trump further.

Reynolds is neutral in the GOP primary fight, in which 11 primary challengers are trying to take down Trump. Yet she’s appeared with several 2024 hopefuls. That will include the Ankeny town hall with Scott on Friday, July 28.

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Nor is it their first joint appearance. The pair in February toured and spoke at St. Anthony Catholic School in Des Moines. Reynolds at the time touted school choice legislation sponsored by Scott during his decade-plus in the Senate, among other issues.

Trump’s attack on Reynolds started July 10, just after the New York Times published a report detailing the governor’s frequent appearances with another 2024 rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL). In response, Trump released a statement saying Reynolds would not be governor if not for him. In 2017, he appointed her predecessor, former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, to his administration as U.S. ambassador to China. Then Iowa’s lieutenant governor, Reynolds moved up to governor. She won reelection in her own right in 2018 and 2022.

“Now, she wants to remain ‘NEUTRAL,’” Trump said sarcastically in his social media post. “I don’t invite her to events!”

Iowa Lincoln Dinner attracts top GOP candidates
Reynolds’s town hall with Scott is part of his broader Hawkeye State swing, less than six months before the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Jan. 15, 2024. Scott on Friday, July 28, will speak at the Republican Party of Iowa’s annual Lincoln Dinner. Per the Iowa Republican Party, confirmed speakers include Scott, Trump, and DeSantis.

Other 2024 Republicans set to speak, each running for the GOP nomination and the right to challenge President Joe Biden, include former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in the Trump administration for nearly two years but now is running against her old boss; former Vice President Mike Pence; Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND); radio talk show host Larry Elder; former Texas Rep. Will Hurd; ex-Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson; businessman Vivek Ramaswamy; and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who joins Trump and DeSantis as a third Floridian in the 2024 GOP race.

“This year’s Lincoln Dinner will be an exciting opportunity to hear from the GOP’s potential champions to take on Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election and celebrate Iowa’s First-in-the-Nation Caucus!” per the Iowa GOP.

Tickets for the party fundraising event go up to $10,000 for a table of 10, among other perks. Individual tickets cost $150.

The July 28 GOP presidential candidates’ forum will take place at the Iowa Events Center at 730 3rd St. in Des Moines.

Haley town hall
Haley is staying in Iowa after the GOP Lincoln Dinner. On Saturday, July 29, she’s leading a 1 p.m. town hall.

The event is set for Wildwood Smokehouse & Saloon at 4919 Walleye Dr. SE in Iowa City.

The town hall is a continuation of Haley’s busy Iowa schedule since declaring for president in February. The former governor and U.N. ambassador is trying to differentiate herself from Trump without alienating his MAGA supporters.

Erick Erickson hosts 2024 candidate at conservative confab
Erick Erickson, the prominent conservative talk radio show host, is getting in on the 2024 primary action. He’s set to host The Gathering 2023 in Atlanta on Friday, Aug. 18.

The event will bring candidates to the Peach State, long a Republican stronghold but where Biden won in 2020. Both Senate seats from Georgia are also now held by Democrats.

Scott was the first GOP candidate to confirm for the event, set for the Grand Hyatt Atlanta in Buckhead, located at 3300 Peachtree Road NE.

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“Erick is a strong conservative, good friend, and trusted voice in our movement,” said Scott, who had a long elected career at the local and state level, from 1995-2010 before winning an open Charleston-area House seat and being appointed to the Senate a bit over two years later to replace resigned GOP Sen. Jim DeMint. Scott subsequently won the Senate seat in his own right in 2014 for the final two years of DeMint’s term, then won full, six-year Senate terms in 2016 and 2022.

“I look forward to joining this important forum to share my message of freedom, hope, and opportunity that will move our country forward,” Scott said about the Erickson event.