WATCH: Hundreds Stand In Line During Downpour For Electric Trump Rally In Iowa

The temperature was in the mid-fifties and the rain was falling down in Council Bluffs, Iowa, but they lined up by the hundreds in a queue stretching back far from the main gates. Some of them had been standing in line for over five hours in the rain. But they weren't in line for bread or a border crossing, no. These were Americans, all gathered in this modest town in Iowa to hear the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump offer a hopeful message for 2024.

Leading up to the rally, recent Iowa polling found Trump leading the race by far and away at 44 percent, up five points from June, against Governor Ron DeSantis (R-FL) who hemorrhaged three points in the last month, according to a National Research Poll published by AmGreatness.

NBC News' Alex Tabet shared the dramatic video from the line outside the Council Bluffs Convention Center, he observed, "Hundreds of Trump supporters brave the downpour in line for his rally in Council Bluffs, Iowa. One man told me he’s been in line since 3AM."

Several highlights of President Trump's remarks garnered media attention, but perhaps none so much as his vociferous criticism of DeSantis when he said, “Iowa also needs to know that Ron DeSanctus totally despises Iowa ethanol and ethanol generally,” He said, according to the Associated Press, using his present malformation of the governor's name. “He’s been fighting it for years. Don’t forget, as a congressman he was voting against it, and fighting for years to kill every single job.”

During 80 minutes of remarks, Trump highlighted his support of Iowa agriculture and his condemnation of China.

 
Trump proclaimed to the somewhat damp but enthusiastic crowd, "I'm proud to be the most Pro-Farmer President that you've ever had in the White House." He also promised, "To protect family farms I eliminated the unfair Estate Tax, or 'DEATH' Tax"

Weighing in on the recent purchases of large land tracts by Chinese interests, he told the audience, "For the purposes of National Security, I will ban Communist China from buying up farmland," to a raucous cheer from his Iowa supporters.
 
“If you want to defend American Farmers and grow more farm products in the USA then you should vote for a very fine gentleman named Donald J. Trump,” he told the convention center. “I will cancel every policy that is brutalizing farmers in our country.”

As the Trump team returned to the so-called 'Trump Force One' beneath a gray sky that had ceased to pour down rain, the GOP frontrunner thanked both Nebraska and Iowa law enforcement for their hard work over the weekend before returning to Florida, but not before promising "We are going to WIN the Iowa caucuses!"

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