An Iowa evangelical leader has warned that former President Donald Trump is still beatable in the state for the 2024 Republican presidential primary election.
In an interview with Fox News Digital this week, Bob Vander Plaats, the CEO of The Family Leader organization, an influential social conservative group, spoke about the Republican race in his state, saying that the field of current candidates is "getting smaller and smaller."
"You're seeing the field naturally coalesce," Vander Plaats said. "There's definitely a shot that the former president can be beat here."
Newsweek reached out to The Family Leader via email for comment from Vander Plaats.
Exit polls from the 2016 election showed a majority of white evangelical voters siding with Trump over Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. However, more recently, some Christian voters have appeared to turn on Trump. Following his announcement to run for office in 2024, the Christian group, Faithful America created a petition opposing the former president.
While speaking with CBS News in January, popular evangelical leader Franklin Graham said he wouldn't endorse Trump "until after the primaries have finished."
Vander Plaats predicted support for Trump to continue to decline in Iowa and could even decrease to 35 percent by the Iowa caucuses in January.
A 2024 Republican primary tracking poll from FiveThirtyEight shows that Trump is currently leading among voters in Iowa with 44.9 percent. The poll showed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a distant second place in the state with 18 percent of support. Former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley garnered 14.2 percent support.
Last month, an poll from The Des Moines Register/NBC News/Mediacom found Trump leading in the state with 43 percent of likely GOP caucus voters siding with the former president. Trump's support was an increase from 42 percent recorded in August, The Des Moines Register reported. The poll found both Haley and DeSantis tied in second with 16 percent.
Vander Plaats announced in a recent Facebook post that The Family Leader organization was holding an event featuring Haley, DeSantis and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy to discuss different issues relating to the next presidential election. Trump was also invited to the event which is scheduled for Friday, November 17, but declined, Fox News Digital said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's spokesperson via email for comment.
Vander Plaats told the outlet that Trump also skipped a similar event held by The Family Leader in July saying that Trump's "absence communicates a lot to our base."
"It's a forum he'd want to take advantage of and remind our base of all the good things he did while he was president," he said.
In a post to X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, Vander Plaats wrote, "Iowa has opportunity to provide America a choice. Today's Thanksgiving FAMiLY Forum featuring @VivekGRamaswamy, @AmbNikkiHaley and @RonDeSantis will provide candidates a platform to make case for being the alternative to @realDonaldTrump #ChooseWell2024."
Over the past several weeks, Trump has continued to speak about his current lead over other candidates and previously skipped the Republican primary debates, citing polls showing him ahead.
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