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Clinton, Trump Campaign at State Fair, Opt Out of Soapbox

Clay Masters
/
IPR
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump holds a press conference before taking kids on helicopter rides above the Iowa State Fair

Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump made a campaign stop at the Iowa State Fair Saturday. Trump passed on a popular state fair candidate event and instead gave kids a ride on his helicopter before walking around the fairState Fair officials told Donald Trump he could not land his helicopter on the Iowa State fairgrounds, so he did it less than a mile away and flew kids over the fair. He also spoke to reporters and says his brain has built a great business and will be good for the country.

“Whatever kind of a brain that is will be used to making our country rich again – trade deals, great trade deals – making our country rich and then making it great. We can make it great unless we make it rich. We have to bring back that money.”

Trump did not appear at the popular Des Moines Register’s Soapbox which gives crowds a chance to interact with candidates. He calls the newspaper that sponsors the event irrelevant. Democratic front runner Hillary Clinton was also at the fair and did not take a turn on the soapbox.

Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders drew a large crowd and called for a “political revolution” in front of a crowd of about 500 people. The Vermont senator, who’s running as a Democrat, says a strong grassroots effort is needed to make the “billionaire class” pay their fair share.

“They are going to start paying their fair share of taxes,” Sanders said to cheers. “They are not going to continue to ship our jobs to China and elsewhere.”

Sanders advocated for raising the minimum wage, pay equity and the lessening of student debt.

Former Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee was among the Democrats campaigning at the State Fair. He told a crowd of roughly 150 people he’s running a low budget campaign.

“Are we going to look at somebody like Lincoln Chafee who has the record, has the character, has the vision, but might not necessarily have the money?” Chafee said. “This is a good test and I ask you voters to do your homework and sift through all the issues and you decide if it’s all about the money.”

According to the Federal Elections Commission, at the end of June Chafee has roughly $329,000 in cash on hand. Fellow Democrats Martin O’Malley has $1.3 million, Sanders has almost $4 million and Clinton has nearly $29 million.

Also taking the soapbox Saturday was former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum who won the Iowa caucuses in 2012.

Clay Masters is the senior politics reporter for MPR News.