As if battling blazes isn’t difficult enough, firefighters across Iowa contended with blistering cold temperatures in the last few days, transforming their typically dangerous jobs into extremely treacherous ones.
With temperatures in the minus tens and wind chills plunging to lower than -30 degrees, according to CNN, these firefighters were on call in potentially life-threatening conditions.
Piping hot pizza in these bone-chilling temperatures is always welcome, but when it comes with the added bonus of being delivered by the former president of the United States, it must surely have been a treat of a lifetime.
On Sunday, former President Donald Trump personally delivered a stack of pizzas purchased from Casey’s General Store to the Waukee Fire Department in metropolitan Des Moines, Iowa, according to Just The News.
.@realDonaldTrump delivering pizzas from Casey’s General Store—to the Waukee Fire Department in Waukee, Iowa… pic.twitter.com/eFIBZb6a21
— Dan Scavino Jr.🇺🇸🦅 (@DanScavino) January 14, 2024
The former president joked with the firefighters as he handed over the pizza, quipping, “Look at the arms on that guy!” as a burly fireman reached out to take the pizzas.
“Look at the arms on that guy!”
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) January 14, 2024
According to Fire Rescue 1, Trump then ate a slice of pizza with the firemen, remarking, “This is good pizza, by the way,” as he ate and chatted with them.
Will Donald Trump become the Republican nominee?
Moments like this are not uncommon when the former president is on the campaign trail.
The image of the former president handing out Blizzards at a packed Dairy Queen had more impact on his image than any media-staged visit.
Trump passed out blizzards to a packed Dairy Queen in Iowa.pic.twitter.com/4vGG13MCt4
— Citizen Free Press (@CitizenFreePres) July 8, 2023
Turning Point CEO Charlie Kirk summed it up in an X post, writing, “Trump 2.0 hands out pizzas to Iowa voters … Trump 2.0 is Trump at a pub. Trump at an Dairy Queen. Trump 2.0 is ignoring a canned, media-dominated GOP debate to visit striking auto workers in Michigan … No one can match Trump at retail politics.”
Trump 2.0 is different from the 2016 or 2020 version.
Trump 2.0 is Retail politics > Rallies and events.
Trump 2.0 hands out pizzas to Iowa voters: “We want pizza from Trump!”
Trump 2.0 is Trump at a pub. Trump at an Dairy Queen.
Trump 2.0 is ignoring a canned,… pic.twitter.com/2pvkyeujIb
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) September 20, 2023
Trump dominated in Iowa, winning 98 of the 99 counties and crushing almost every demographic, according to Axios.
The key to Trump’s decisive win was consolidating support from conservatives and evangelicals who previously backed Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas. Trump won over about 70 percent of Cruz’s 2016 supporters, dominating in rural northwestern and central Iowa. He also retained over 90 percent of his own 2016 Iowa supporters, according to The Washington Post.
The ability of a man who lived his life hobnobbing with New York elites to connect with rural voters is part of what makes Trump so popular among conservatives and difficult to beat despite his opponent’s best efforts.
As Charlie Kirk put it, “Often imitated, never duplicated.”