Donald Trump spent the weekend in Iowa, holding four campaign rallies in two days ahead of the January 15 caucuses. It will not surprise you to learn that he said lots of bizarre things, like insisting he won the 2020 election, attacking E. Jean Carroll, admiring various authoritarian leaders from Xi Jinping to Saddam Hussein, and reiterating that he intends to be a dictator “for one day” if reelected in 2024. These days, that’s to be expected anytime the GOP presidential front-runner opens his mouth. But this weekend’s comments went beyond run-of-the-mill Trump lunacy. Here’s a list of the wild things Trump said during his 72-hour tear through the Hawkeye State, ranked from least to most appalling.
8.
He claimed magnets don’t work underwater.
While discussing magnetic elevator systems and electric catapults designed for U.S. aircraft carriers during his Friday rally in Mason City, Trump demonstrated that he knows less about science than the average elementary-school student.
“Think of it, magnets,” Trump said. “Now all I know about magnets is this, give me a glass of water, let me drop it on the magnets, that’s the end of the magnets.”
On the one hand, sure, this is pretty funny. But on the other hand, holy shit, this guy was president and there’s a good chance he’ll be reelected!
7.
He bragged about his ability to put on pants.
Maybe our expectations for Trump are too high. As he pointed out during the same event in Mason City, he manages to clothe himself like a big boy almost every single day.
“First they say, ‘Sir, how do you do it? How do you wake up in the morning and put on your pants?’” Trump mused. “And I say, ‘Well, I don’t think about it too much.’ I don’t want to think about it because if I think about it too much maybe I won’t want to do it, but I love it because we’re going to do something for this country that’s never been done before.”
6.
He said the Civil War could have been “negotiated.”
Trump delivered a controversial history lesson on Saturday in Newton. Describing the Civil War as “a tough one for our country” and a “hell of a time,” Trump claimed the conflict — much like the Ukraine-Russia war and the Israel-Hamas war — could have been avoided entirely if we had a master dealmaker like him in the White House back in 1861.
“So many mistakes were made. See, there was something I think could have been negotiated, to be honest with you,” Trump said. “I think you could have negotiated that. All the people died. So many people died.”
Trump stopped short of directly blaming Abraham Lincoln, with whom he has a one-sided posthumous rivalry. But he did suggest concerns about his legacy may have played a factor in his decision not to cut a deal.
“Abraham Lincoln, of course, if he negotiated it, you probably wouldn’t even know who Abraham Lincoln was,” Trump said. “He would’ve been president, but he would’ve been president, and he would have been — he wouldn’t have been the Abraham Lincoln.”
5.
He posted an ad that asserts “God made Trump.”
Back in 2022, Casey DeSantis posted a video that suggested God himself sent her husband, Ron DeSantis, to govern Florida. The ad was poorly received, and it partially inspired the Trump nickname “Ron DeSanctimonious.”
As it turns out, Trump doesn’t think adapting radio legend Paul Harvey’s 1978 “God Made a Farmer” speech is generally cringey and blasphemous; his issue was that the DeSantis spot wasn’t about him. As he headed to Iowa on Friday, Trump posted a fan-made version of the ad on Truth Social without clarifying when he’s ever gotten up “before dawn,” worked all day, stayed in the Oval Office past midnight, or demonstrated that he has hands “gentle enough to deliver his own grandchild.”
4.
He mocked Biden’s stutter.
Trump did impersonations depicting Biden as decrepit and confused at multiple events over the weekend, and on Friday in Sioux Center he claimed the president stuttered over the word democracy during his speech hours earlier.
“Did you see him? He was stuttering through the whole thing,” Trump said. “He’s saying I’m a threat to democracy.”
“’He’s a threat to d-d-democracy,’” he added, pretending to stutter. “Couldn’t read the word.”
Trump’s love of mocking people’s disabilities is always gross, and in this case it isn’t even accurate. While Biden does have a stutter that he’s worked to overcome, the Washington Post reported that he didn’t stumble over the word on Friday: “Biden said the word ‘democracy’ 29 times in his speech, never stuttering over it.”
3.
He mocked injures McCain received as a P.O.W.
Incredibly, Trump impersonated the disabilities of two political foes this weekend. Yes, Trump has insulted Senator John McCain and his status as a war hero many times over the years, but bringing it up again in Iowa is still pretty wild! His impersonation of McCain’s “skinny repeal” vote wasn’t accurate and McCain is no longer Trump’s rival as he passed away in 2018.
2.
He glorified January 6 insurrectionists
Trump spent the third anniversary of the Capitol riot spreading baseless claims about who perpetrated the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol, casting the people charged over the attack as victims, and accusing Biden of being the real insurrectionist, though that makes no sense.
“You know what they ought to do?” Trump said in Clinton on Saturday. “They ought to release the J6 hostages. They’ve suffered enough. I call them hostages. Some people call them prisoners. I call them hostages. Release the J6 hostages, Joe. Release them, Joe. You can do it real easy, Joe.”
At another event in Newton, Trump said of migrants crossing the southern border, “You talk about insurrection? That’s the real deal,” contrasting that with the Capitol riot, which he said was done “patriotically and peacefully.”
1.
He said Iowans need to “get over” a fatal school shooting.
Last week a 17-year-old opened fire at his high school in Perry, killing 11-year-old Ahmir Jolliff and injuring four other students and three staff members before turning his weapon on himself. During his speech in Sioux Center a day later, Trump said it was “surprising” to see such a thing happen in Iowa, but people need to find a way to “get over it.”
“I want to send our support and our deepest sympathies to the victims and families touched by the terrible school shooting yesterday in Perry, Iowa,” Trump said. “It’s just horrible, so surprising to see it here. But we have to get over it, we have to move forward.”
Clearly Trump was trying to express his sympathies like a normal human capable of empathy. But he could not manage to do it without saying something bizarre and ghastly.
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