Trump Campaign Rips Major Evangelical Leader for Not Endorsing Him: ‘History of Losing’
AP Photo/Paul Sancya
Former President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign tore into Iowa evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats on Tuesday after he endorsed Trump’s Republican primary rival Ron DeSantis.
In a statement titled, “Bob Vander Plaat$ Endorses A Candidate Who Will Never Be President,” the Trump campaign wrote:
Over 150 faith leaders in Iowa are organizing their congregations for President Trump and not a single one demanded nearly $100k like Bob Vander Plaat$ did from Ron DeSanctus.
When you are actually the leader of a movement like President Trump is, people are willing to support you for free.
Kim Reynolds’ endorsement won’t save Ron DeSanctus, and neither will Vander Plaat$’ endorsement.
The Trump campaign proceeded to list a number of negative headlines and quotes about Vander Plaats, including an article that claimed DeSantis and his allies paid Vander Plaats’ The Family Leader Foundation nearly $100,000 in recent months.
“Vander Plaat$ Has A History Of Losing,” declared the statement in another section. “Vander Plaat$ has attempted to run for higher officer himself, resulting in losing primary battles in 2002, 2006 and 2010.”
The Trump campaign also dismissed Vander Plaats’ endorsement as “negligible” and pointed to data that showed many Iowa GOP caucus attendees had never even heard of the evangelical leader.
Vander Plaats was the host of the Thanksgiving Family Forum last week, which featured three of Trump’s Republican primary rivals: DeSantis, Nikki Haley, and Vivek Ramaswamy.
During the event, DeSantis ranted about “Arabs,” who he claimed had turned Bethlehem into a “pigsty.”
While Trump was also reportedly invited to the event, he declined to attend.
Last week, Vander Plaats told Fox News, “There’s definitely a shot that the former president can be beaten here.”
Vander Plaats has previously criticized Trump, and after Vander Plaats endorsed Trump’s primary rival Ted Cruz in 2016, Trump called the evangelical leader a “con man” and “a total phony.”
While Vander Plaats’ endorsements in the 2008, 2012, and 2016 Republican primaries all went on to win the Iowa Caucuses, none gained the Republican nomination for president.
