The smell of gasoline and the roar of more than 200 motorcycles filled the air Saturday morning outside the Big Barn Harley-Davidson in Des Moines before the start of the US Senator’s annual “Roast and Ride.” Iowa Joni Ernst.
Eight Republican 2024 presidential candidates will grill pork and ride hogs in Iowa today, making their pitches to caucus goers at one of the first major campaign events of the summer, hosted by the senator American from Iowa, Joni Ernst.
But before heading to the fairgrounds, Ernst arrived Saturday morning in a leather Harley-Davidson vest to lead a parade of around 250 bikers. Beside him at Big Barn Harley-Davidson on Saturday morning was former Vice President Mike Pence, in his own leather vest filled with patches, including one for his home state of Indiana.
“One of the reporters asked me if we showed up in Iowa, what our lane would be. I said, ‘I’m more worried about the lane we’re going to stay in today,'” joked Pence with the runners. .
Pence officially launches his presidential campaign next week in Iowa – a choice he told reporters on Saturday morning he considers his “calling”.
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As Ernst, Pence and the crowd of motorcycle enthusiasts make their way to the fairgrounds, the other contestants and participants gather at the Animal Learning Center for a rally that will run from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
A team of Registry reporters will be on the ground, bringing you all the sights, sounds and smells of the event.
Who will be speaking at Roast and Ride?
Almost all of the leading GOP candidates will speak on Saturday.
This includes Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Vice President Mike Pence, US Senator from South Carolina Tim Scott, former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Michigan businessman Perry Johnson, author Vivek Ramaswamy, and former California gubernatorial candidate Larry Elder.
It’s the biggest presidential “cattle call” of the year so far.
Former President Donald Trump, who has avoided multi-candidate events like this, is notably absent. He teleported to the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition forum earlier this spring to speak live.
Trump was in Iowa on Thursday, making a series of intimate campaign stops. He met Republicans at a conservative breakfast club in Urbandale, then spoke to pastors and campaign volunteers outside a Fox News town hall.
What will the Republican presidential candidates talk about?
The candidates will have the chance to test their campaign speeches in front of hundreds of conservative Republicans – and the national press.
They will likely mention the agreement to lift the national debt ceiling, which was passed by the Senate on Thursday evening. Several conservative Republicans in Congress have opposed the deal, saying it doesn’t go far enough to cut the country’s spending, but Iowa’s entire DC delegation voted in favor.
Meet the 2024 candidates These Democrats and Republicans are running for president
A question mark is how aggressively the candidates will criticize each other, especially Trump, the frontrunner.
DeSantis lashed out at Trump this week during his first trip to Iowa as a presidential candidate, saying Trump “decided to move to the left” on a number of issues. Trump has repeatedly attacked DeSantis but has largely ignored the other candidates in the race.
And other candidates, like Haley, have aggressively taken on DeSantis as they seek to position themselves as Trump’s main rival for the nomination.
This story will be updated.
Brianne Pfannenstiel and Stephen Gruber-Miller contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: Republican presidential candidates face off at Iowa Roast and Ride