Ask Craig Hill, president of the Iowa Farm Bureau, about the weirdest thing he’s witnessed during the weeks leading up to his state’s caucuses, and he responds, “Donald Trump,” according to POLITICO.
The real estate mogul answered with one word, “yes,” to all eight of the survey questions asked by the farm group, even though it often contradicted his statements in televised debates and on the campaign trail. Hill identified the Trans-Pacific Partnership deal, which Trump has publicly railed against, as being among his group’s most important issues.
The Iowa Farm Bureau abstains from endorsing any of the presidential candidates. But like Jana Linderman, president of the Iowa Farmers Union, Hill said he is disappointed with all of them for not addressing agricultural issues more than they did.
“I think whatever you say in Iowa is going to be reported nationwide and worldwide, so they are very cautious about what they say in our state,” Hill said.
But speaking before the Thursday night Fox News GOP debate that Trump has promised to avoid, Hill said his group’s voting power may have been underestimated. The Iowa Farm Bureau’s membership represents 159,372 families and 15 percent of the state’s households, he said, adding that rural Iowans take their caucus duties seriously.
See how the Republican presidential candidates answered the Iowa Farm Bureau’s survey here: http://bit.ly/1OQlvfC.