Mystery Iowa mailers proclaim Trump to be a 'transgender trailblazer'

Donald Trump has stepped up his campaign activity in Iowa in hopes of crushing Ron DeSantis, who's betting his political fortunes on the state's caucus.

The former president still holds a commanding 30-point lead over the Florida governor in Iowa, but political veterans in the state believe that lead may be a mirage – and the former president is spending more money and time on the campaign there, with a pair of events planned for this week and three more stops early next month, reported Politico.

“No candidate has ever won Iowa [GOP caucus] by more than 12 points and even the most conservative polls have us at double that margin,” said Alex Latcham, the early states director for the Trump campaign. “But I try to continuously remind our team and our staff and everybody that we do not take it for granted.”

DeSantis has been focusing on Iowa to boost his momentum when the primary season kicks off in January, and his PAC has spent almost three times as much on ads there as the PAC supporting Trump. The governor will take part in six events on Saturday alone.

"That means he is doing more events in one day [than] Trump has planned in the Hawkeye State in the next seven weeks,” said DeSantis spokesperson Andrew Romeo. “No wonder why Trump’s ‘allies are growing concerned that his lead in Iowa’s first in the nation caucuses isn’t built to last.’ Ron DeSantis is putting in the work to win the Hawkeye State while Donald Trump continues to flip Iowans the bird.”

A recently sent mailer mirrors the DeSantis team's attacks on Trump's record on LGBTQ rights, an issue where the governor hopes to peel off some evangelical support from the ex-president.

"One flier being sent to voters — which an Iowa Republican shared with POLITICO — calls Trump a 'transgender trailblazer' who 'celebrated gay marriage victory at Mar-a-Lago party with Log Cabin Republicans,'" the website reported. "Another thanks Trump — seemingly sarcastically — 'for standing with LGBTQ+ Americans to fight against the close-minded Republicans who won’t accept change.' A third reminds Iowans Trump allowed a transgender woman to compete in his Miss Universe Pageant two decades ago."

Trump openly supported same-sex marriage during his 2016 campaign and seemed to hold softer views on gender and sexuality issues than many conservative candidates, although he signed a ban on transgender military service members, appointed anti-LGBTQ judges and pursued discriminatory policies as president and vowed to "stop" gender-affirming care for minors if re-elected.

It's not clear who paid for and sent the mailers, and spokespeople for DeSantis and his Never Back Down PAC did not respond to questions about the possible involvement.

"But the problem DeSantis world has confronted as they’ve sought to court the evangelical vote is that evangelical voters appear to prefer Trump," Politico reported. "The former president has long been popular with that cohort, even as he’s shown reluctance to go as far as some of his opponents on issues like abortion."