At a campaign rally in Iowa, Republican presidential contenders appeared on stage together for the first time in the 2024 presidential contest.

Ron DeSantis and Donald Trump, the Republican Party’s top competitors, were the featured speakers at their annual Lincoln Dinner fundraiser.

During the occasion, each of the 13 contenders was given 10 minutes to speak.

Even as his legal troubles get worse, polls suggest that Mr. Trump is still ahead of his competitors.

He argued that the only reason he is facing a slew of criminal and civil allegations is because he is the only candidate who can win the election next year.

Even if he is found guilty, Mr. Trump has already vowed he will still seek the presidency.

In the large ballroom, there were more than 1,200 people, all of whom will have a significant impact on the Republican nominee.

Although many claimed to be truly undecided about their vote, there was no shortage of Trump bumper stickers in the crowd.

Watching the many contenders engage with one another was not amusing. Each of them got an own backstage suite from which they emerged to give their ten-minute address. Actually, they didn’t even need to interact with one another.

Vivek Ramaswamy captivated the audience and received a standing ovation for his barnstorming performance, exactly what he needed to achieve to become a breakthrough artist.

The performance of Will Hurd won’t be quickly forgotten, but for all the wrong reasons. When he claimed that Donald Trump is just running for president to avoid going to jail, the audience appeared to be really astonished.

The rest of his words were almost completely drowned out by raucous jeers and clinking silverware, with one man yelling “go home.” He had clearly lost track of the space.

The fundraiser on Friday comes a day after additional accusations were made against Mr. Trump for allegedly handling classified information improperly.

The former president is the front-runner for the Republican nomination, despite the fact that federal prosecutors have expanded their criminal investigation into him due to how he handled official papers after leaving office.

A FiveThirtyEight average of opinion polls shows that Mr. Trump is leading the Republican field with 52.4% support, followed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis with 15.5% and everyone else with less than 10%.

Additionally, on Friday, Ron DeSantis appeared at the Republican Party’s annual Lincoln Dinner fundraiser.

Trump could soon face charges in Washington for allegedly trying to rig the 2020 election. He has refuted each and every accusation.

Voters will start narrowing the field of presidential candidates in each state until only one from each major party is left standing to run in the November 2024 election in Iowa.

On Friday, the ceremony was also attended by South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley, and former Vice President Mike Pence.

The former governor of New Jersey, Chris Christie, opted out of attending the event in favor of New Hampshire.

Since last Thursday, Mr. DeSantis has been in Iowa. He has promised to eventually travel to each of Iowa’s 99 counties in an effort to improve his standing both locally and nationally.

The governor of Florida has come under fire for the new educational requirements that have been adopted for middle schools in his state, especially from Republicans.

The 200-page curriculum’s statement that slaves acquired practical skills that “could be applied to their personal benefit” has stirred some debate.

One of three black Republicans running for president in 2024, Mr. Scott, told reporters on Thursday that the real purpose of slavery was to split up families, mutilate people, and even rape their wives. Simply catastrophic, that is.

So I would hope that everyone in our country would respect it, and certainly anyone running for president.

Local Iowan polls of public opinion suggest that Mr. Scott may be gaining ground.

A political dispute recently caused Mr. Trump to lose a supporter in the crucial state of Iowa.

A few days after Mr. Trump criticized Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds for remaining neutral in the 2024 election, an Iowa state senator opted to support Mr. DeSantis instead.

How often have we clenched our teeth and shaken our heads at some of the former president’s statements? NPR was told by Jeff Reichman.