As Twitchy reported, Republican frontrunner Donald Trump made quite the splashy arrival at the Iowa State Fair by “needlessly circling” the grounds in a helicopter as Hillary Clinton was giving her stump speech. Not only that: Trump offered rides on the helicopter to children at the fair for a bit, and then allowed the remainder to take photos inside while he tooled around in his golf cart and mingled with the crowd.
Looks like the rides are over on Trump helicopter but kids say they still want photos inside pic.twitter.com/WKYAkxB371
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) August 15, 2015
“@russcrook: @jimwaterson @Peggynoonannyc Giving kids free rides. Actually, brilliant.” Yes. And merry and fun in the way of old politics.
— Peggy Noonan (@Peggynoonannyc) August 15, 2015
& Des Moines fire truck shows up to @realDonaldTrump helicopter, any problems w/ this I ask fire rescue guys? Nope! pic.twitter.com/CqBMNKQ6jF
— Kylie Atwood (@kylieatwood) August 15, 2015
Meanwhile:
I think maybe Trump is getting a porkchop-on-a-stick. pic.twitter.com/4zqTP5y6Z0
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 15, 2015
Word is that Hillary Clinton can’t get enough of those.
Trump didn’t stay long, and the Trumpcopter lifted off just in time to buzz candidate Bernie Sanders during his turn on the soapbox.
The copter takes off. pic.twitter.com/krnQJy5m0G
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 15, 2015
Populist Sanders wasn’t about to let himself be overshadowed, though.
Helicopter buzzes over @BernieSanders. "There's Donald Trump – what can you do? I apologize – we left the helicopter at home."
— Ken Thomas (@KThomasDC) August 15, 2015
"I apologize. We left the helicopter at home." @BernieSanders at #IowaStateFair
— gwen ifill (@gwenifill) August 15, 2015
Great @IowaStateFair moment: @BernieSanders sees Trump helo as he's on #DMRSoapbox & says he forgot his at home pic.twitter.com/TbpvDdZV3A
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) August 15, 2015
It looks as though Trump’s dramatic entrance was a hit — not that he was concerned about the polls to begin with.
Trump leads in the polls, despite skipping the butter cow. pic.twitter.com/3hts2jV1vu
— Philip Bump (@pbump) August 15, 2015
https://twitter.com/rpjohnson001/status/632629421690634240
The official butter cow of the Iowa State Fair wasn’t intimidated one bit, though.
I cannot be trumped. All these people are definitely all here to see me!
— Official Butter Cow (@ISF_ButterCow) August 15, 2015