Editor’s note: This article changed to better clarify that former President Trump did receive record-breaking votes in the 2020 election as a sitting president.

Returning to Des Moines, former President Donald Trump endorsed U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley during a Save America event at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday. 

Accompanied by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Rep. Ashely Hinson (IA-01), Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks (IA-02) and Chairman of the Iowa Republican Party Jeff Kaufman, Trump relayed a 90-minute speech. 

The Reconciliation and Infrastructure bill, the electoral system and the Biden administration’s management of the southern border were a few of Trump’s big-ticket sells of the night to more than 1000 fans.

“As we gather tonight, millions of Americans are realizing that Joe Biden and the radical left have brought our nation to the brink of ruin,” Trump said. “It has never been anything like this, after just nine months under Biden, violent criminals and blood thirsty gangs are taking over our streets.”

Trump said illegal aliens and deadly drug cartels are taking over the borders while inflation has consumed the economy, to which the crowd booed.

“Lunatic leftist are taking over our schools and radical socialist are taking over our country, and we are not going to let that happen,” Trump said to a cheering crowd. 

Trump alluded to the tradition of keeping Iowa as the first state to hold a caucus to nominate presidential candidates.  In the 2020 election, there was a record-breaking turnout, with Biden receiving more than 81 million votes and winning the electoral college while Trump received 75 million votes. He also stated no sitting president in history has ever received more votes, while reaffirming the outcome of the election was falsified. 

Just under a year ago, Trump came to the Des Moines International Airport and campaigned on a similar message a month shy of the election. This time around, Trump celebrated the Hawkeyes win and proceeded to detail to his loyalists how he won the election.

“As disastrous as the Biden administration has been, no one can blame the great state of Iowa because boy, we did really, we did really good here.” Trump said.

Kay Poppen is a cosmetologist from Eagle Grove, Iowa. This was her second Trump rally with her husband Brian, and this time they brought her 14-year-old son. Both Brian and Kay believe Trump won the 2020 election. Kay said she was unsure how Trump would officially be reinstated, but he is the rightful winner.

“Still from the 2020 elections, we know they were wrong,” Kay said. “We have seen them as they were coming out and really the media is just frickin’ hiding it all and trying to keep it from the American people because they also want the new world order. So they are just screwing all of us.”

Trump won 53 percent of Iowa’s votes in the 2020 election, and a recent Des Moines Register poll reported a majority of Iowans have favorable opinions of Trump, and even higher among Iowan Republicans. These facts were something Grassley acknowledged after Trump’s endorsement. 

Trump said Grassley always aided him in any matters relating to farmers, describing Grassley as tough. Grassley, 88, announced his reelection campaign for his eighth senate term at the end of September.

“I was born at night but not last night,” Grassley said. “So if I didn’t accept the endorsement of the person that’s got 91 percent of the Republican voters in Iowa, I wouldn’t be too smart. I am smart enough to accept that endorsement.”

Grassley spoke earlier in the night, championing the tax cut for American business Republicans passed during the Trump administration. Grassley serves as the ranking member of the U.S. Judiciary committee. During the Trump administration, Grassley served as chair in confirming the three Supreme Court justices.

“A 6-3 majority is very very important to save the Constitution and save the country,” Grassley said. “President Trump ran on a platform of tax cuts and he delivered the biggest tax cut in the history of the country.”

A Trump supporter from the jump, Edith Schaecher, began attending his rallies in 2016. She has been to nine rallies, five of them in Des Moines. She also traveled to Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Washington D.C. on Jan. 6.

But Schaecher has been disappointed with Grassley and other Republicans for not being dedicated enough to Trump; she said the Trump ideology is the only feasible path for the party to regain power.

Grassley also accredited Trump for securing the borders and passing criminal justice reform known as the First Step Act. The bill was bipartisan, and it allows federal inmates to earn “good credit time” for every year of their imposed sentence rather than for every year of their sentence served.

Reynolds also addressed the border crisis and criminal justice reform. Reynolds is already facing multiple Democratic challenges for the 2022 gubernatorial election.

“In 2020, we had a president who got things done,” Reynolds said. “We had a president who secured the border, he protected law enforcement, he put America first and he unleashed historic economic growth across this country.”

Trump said he offered to endorse Reynolds during the Saturday rally, but she said she didn’t want to take from Grassley’s endorsement. 

“From county office to oval office we need leaders that believe in you, that trust you, that live by the same set of rules that they make us live by,” Reynolds said to a cheering crowd. “You know 2024 is a few years away but I am here to tell you that the work starts now, if you show up we win.”

Reynolds said Democrats are responsible for inflation because of careless spending, and their $3.5 trillion for education and environmental programs will raise taxes.  

“The Democrat bill contains billions of billions of dollars for unlawful government training programs inspired by toxic and bigoted critical race theory,” Trump said. “It is branded with so-called equity provisions. You know what equity means? We are going to take it away from you and give it to other people.”

Kay said all Democrats want to break the American people into a third-world country as part of establishing the “new world order.”

“The new world order is that all the countries become third-world countries and then you just have the top-notch people that run it and we are just to do what they want us to do,” Kay said. “It basically becomes a socialist and communist country, and that is not what we are looking for.”

Josh Josvanger works in construction. He and his son went to a rally prior to the election in Dubuque, Iowa, and so Saturday, they woke up early in the morning and drove from Dubuque for the Save America rally.

Josvanger said it is obvious that fraudulent activity took place during the 2020 election because, for days after, he watched news stations report on poll workers throwing out ballots.

“Bless him, you have to have a lot of thick skin to be in politics anyways and I think he was the guy for the times and I think he could be the guy again,” Josvanger said. “He is definitely carrying the energy on a daily basis and I think this time around he will be a little smart and surround himself with more loyal people who won’t turn back into what I call a RINO (Republicans in name only).”

Trump said Democrats and RINOs are in the way of every single step he takes, and if he had won, his slogan was supposed to be ‘keep America great.’ According to a volunteer who was unable to give his name because of campaign policies, he thinks it is important to note even though the election is four years away, the Trump movement is thriving in Iowa, and Saturday’s rally proves it.

“If you think about it, it is more accurate: make America great again, again,” Trump said. “Because we made it great, and now we have to make it great again, so it is one of those things. But make America great again; our nation’s comeback begins in November 2022 when we are going to reclaim the House and the United States Senate.