Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson drew a huge crowd late Sunday afternoon at the Iowa State Fair.
“I’ve been to a lot of state fairs, but this is a state fair,” Carson said, to cheers. “I tell you, this is amazing.”
Carson spoke at The Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox on the fairgrounds and began by mentioning his recent rise in the polls.
“I want to thank all the people of Iowa, you know, who’ve been supporting me and helping the rest of the nation realize that we shouldn’t let the professional class pick our presidents,” Carson said.
Carson told the crowd too many people are “acting like third graders” and allowing others to “think for them.” Carson, who is a retired brain surgeon, argued the solutions for America’s most vexing problems, like the federal government’s debts and deficits, can be solved by maximizing the human brain.
“We, the American people, are not each other’s enemies,” Carson said. “The enemies are those people who are trying to make us think that we’re each other’s enemies. We have to be smart enough.”
AUDIO of Carson’s speech
Kay Vandenberg of Donnellson like “everything” about Carson and is ready to support him in the Iowa Caucuses.
“I just really think he would be wonderful,” she says.
Frank Ingersoll of Des Moines notes Carson went to church on Sunday in Des Moines.
“We’re looking for somebody that is faithful to his wife, his wife is faithful to him, that they go to church on Sunday, that they actually believe and they don’t tell lies,” Ingersoll said.
There were people from other states who traveled to Des Moines to see Carson, too. This is the second consecutive weekend Carson has spent in the state. He held outdoor events, featuring food and entertainment, for supporters in central and western Iowa that attracted hundreds last weekend.