At a recent campaign event for the evangelical community in Iowa, former President Donald Trump and other Republican presidential hopefuls made clear their opposition to abortion and transgender rights while promoting Christian values and school choice.
Trump and other speakers at the annual presidential forum organized by the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition emphasized the importance of restricting access to abortions, with Trump promising to fight against late-term abortions. Although he did not address federal restrictions on the procedure, a step some conservatives desire.
Other potential GOP presidential candidates, such as former Vice President Mike Pence and Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, joined in on the anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, vowing to curtail the availability of transition surgeries and other gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth.
For Pence, who is known for his devout evangelical beliefs and potential presidential aspirations, this event provided a chance to voice his commitment to promoting Christian values and curbing what he sees as a radical leftist agenda. He described the battle against gender ideology as a battle for religious freedom.
The event also highlighted the importance of Iowa’s evangelical voting bloc in the Republican party’s primary race, with strong support from this community potentially helping a challenger to strike a blow against Trump, who won 76% of the white evangelical vote in 2020.
Overall, the event showed the Republican party’s continued focus on conservative cultural issues, such as abortion and transgender rights, as key themes likely to dominate the upcoming primary battle.