Top Iowa Evangelical Leader Predicts Trump Is Beatable In Caucus: Rivals Definitely Have a ‘Shot’
Bob Vander Plaats, a top evangelical leader in Iowa, told Fox News digital on Friday that he believes former President Donald Trump is still beatable in the first-in-the-nation caucus and that he will endorse one of his rivals.
“You’re seeing the field naturally coalesce. It’s getting smaller and smaller,” Vander Plaats, who is president and CEO of The Family Leader, told Fox’s Paul Steinhauser in an interview.
Vander Plaats will host Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy for a “family discussion” during an event on Friday. Trump was reportedly invited to the event as well but decided to skip it – just as he did the group’s Family Leader’s summit in July. The Family Leader’s summit is a regular stop for GOP presidential candidates and the July event saw the entire field, other than Trump, attend in search of evangelical votes, which are often key to winning in Iowa.
Speaking of the horse race in Iowa, Vander Plaats told Fox, “There’s definitely a shot that the former president can be beaten here.”
Steinhauser reported that during his conversation with Vander Plaats, the evangelical leader noted “that the former president’s under 50% support in the latest polls in Iowa, Vander Plaats predicted that Trump’s backing might be as low as 35% by the time of the Jan. 15 caucuses.”
Vander Plaats added that he expects to endorse a candidate in the GOP primary, someone other than Trump, “sometime after the forum and before Christmas.”
He added that “my guess is…it’s a personal endorsement and not a ministry endorsement” — suggesting the Family Leader may not endorse in the primary. “I’ll do whatever I can to make the endorsement stick and see what happens,” Vander Plaats added.
Fox noted his success in the last four Iowa caucuses, “Vander Plaats backed former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee in 2008, former Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania in 2012, and Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas in 2016 — all three of whom went on to win the Iowa caucuses, but failed to capture the GOP presidential nomination.”
