DES MOINES, Iowa — Hourlong lines in the cold, authorized and unauthorized Make America Great Again merchandise, highly produced “how to caucus” videos — former President Donald Trump may be the messenger, but he has undisputedly inspired a movement.

That is what Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley are up against in Iowa as Trump averages a 30 percentage point advantage on his primary opponents before the Republican Party’s 2024 opening nominating contest on Monday.

Before Trump’s Mason City rally last weekend, Debbie Neuberger, who read about the campaign stop in “the newspaper,” underscored how most of the people packed into the North Iowa Events Center were for the former president and “they’re going to vote, vote, vote.”

“He’s just awesome,” the Clear Lake haunted house owner, 60, told the Washington Examiner. “People love him. They love him. No matter what, they love him. The more they try to knock him down, the more we love him, the more we go out and help him.”

After a crowded Trump campaign meet-and-greet with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in rural Keokuk, Sandy Johnson, a precinct caucus captain for the former president, repeated she would never be “not voting for Trump until he, for some reason, is no longer the candidate.”

“There’s always been something about Nikki that I have not liked,” the Keokuk retired retailer, 79, said. “Now Ron DeSantis I like, but then I think he’s probably just a little shallow. I think Trump is really deep. I mean, you might not like his personality, which a lot of people don’t, but that man is sincere, and he’s honest, and he has been through — she said it right when she said ‘persecution.’ They went after him from the get-go.”

Johnson underscores DeSantis’s predicament, more so than that of Haley, with the Florida governor’s personality and politics appealing to similar likely caucusgoers as Trump.

Dallas County Republican Chairwoman Kelley Koch, who represents a region close to more liberal Des Moines, contended DeSantis, in particular, was “misadvised” and that “98%” of Iowa Republicans had decided for whom they would be caucusing “a while ago” but did not share their decision with pollsters or reporters.

“All the other guys never really entered the picture,” Koch said after a drop-in with Donald Trump Jr. in Urbandale. “The reason why, and I mean this sincerely, our country is so messed up right now, with so many problems, that we don’t have time for a rookie.”

Of DeSantis, she added: “I don’t think they truly knew that the MAGA people were sleeping at home, working every day, raising kids. And then when the race kicked in, everybody started to wake up.”

Marian Webster, 69, an Urbandale retiree who was also at the Trump Jr. event, expressed sympathy for DeSantis and Haley because she was sure “they mean well” and “want the best for the country.”

“But I don’t see them, I want to say ‘comparable’ to Trump,” she said. “He’s just, he has outdone, I think, any politician. The only other one that comes to mind is [former President Ronald] Reagan that I can remember.”

Not everyone is a Trump supporter, with one Iowa Republican telling the Washington Examiner he would consider voting for President Joe Biden in the general election if Trump becomes his party’s nominee. Others conceded they would reluctantly cast their ballot for Trump, preferring another four years of the former president to another term of the Biden administration.

But as DeSantis and Haley make primary and general election arguments against Donald Trump, Eric Trump remained unconcerned, describing his father’s third presidential campaign and supporters as “the greatest movement that’s ever existed in politics.” 

“Most people are angry,” the younger Trump said in an interview. “They’re angry at the state of this country. They’re angry at the economy. I think they’re going to turn out, and I think they’re going to turn out in big numbers. … The movement wants Trump back in, and I think they’re going to show up.”

Eric Trump additionally cited his father’s legal entanglements and alleged the federal government was being weaponized against him.

“It shouldn’t be this way. It’s horribly sad for our nation, but they’re crazy,” he said. “People are sick and tired of it, and they want to be proud of their country. They want to have a president who’s a cheerleader for our country. I think that’s going to really put two people whose campaigns are already faltering really on massive life support.”

Kari Lake, an Arizona Republican Senate candidate and Donald Trump supporter, presented a more positive case on Trump’s behalf, asserting the former president has a record regarding the economy, energy, and foreign policy as part of his “America First” platform.

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“Well, I wouldn’t use David and Goliath because we know David won that battle,” the former television news anchor and 2022 gubernatorial nominee said. “This is like T-ball versus the major leagues, and we’ve got Babe Ruth in President Trump. So, that’s how I would equate it.”

“People recognize that in President Trump, there’s a fighter, somebody who stands up and fights every day,” she continued. “He doesn’t need this. He has an incredible life outside of politics. He jumped in because he saw that our country was moving in the wrong direction. And this movement is growing. It’s not contracting. It’s growing, and I don’t know that any other candidate can even come close to President Trump. And people recognize that he’s going to get back into office and turn this nightmare around.”