Around 12,000 attendees are expected to show up for burgers and face time with 17 Democratic presidential candidates at the Polk County Democratic Party’s annual steak fry in Iowa on Saturday. Although 18 candidates were initially expected to attend, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dropped out of the presidential race on Friday morning.
Organizers will grill 10,500 steaks for the attendees. They will also have 1,000 vegan burgers — all of it made on 10 grills by 40 grillers. Senator Cory Booker is the only vegan in the presidential race.
Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke kicked off the speeches by talking about his mandatory gun buyback plan, saying he won’t let “PACs, NRA, or even fellow Democrats tell us what is and what is not possible.” He led the crowd in a chant of “hell yes,” his signature comment from the third debate, as he walked off stage.
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Senator Kamala Harris, whose campaign announced earlier this week will focus heavily on the first-in-the-nation contest, opened by joking “I don’t know if you guys heard, but I’m planning on moving to Iowa.” She said she has a “winning strategy that addresses challenges that wake people up in the middle of the night.” McDonald’s workers joined her at her pre-steak fry rally.
Despite the dire news from Senator Cory Booker’s campaign earlier Saturday that he would have to drop out of the race if he didn’t raise $1.7 million by the end of September, the senator from New Jersey gave an impassioned speech that focused on rising above hatred. He touched on his family’s history in Iowa, health care and beating President Trump. He ended his speech with the call “we will rise!”
Former Vice President Joe Biden did not mention the reports that Mr. Trump repeatedly tried to pressure Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate Biden’s son, Hunter. This interaction with Zelensky may be the subject of a whistleblower report to the inspector general of the intelligence community that the Trump administration has refused to provide to Congress.
South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who notably lobbed public jabs at O’Rourke and Senator Elizabeth Warren earlier this week, said the Democrats “can’t get caught up in purity tests.” Later at another Iowa event, the audience chanted “Medicare for all” while Buttigieg tried to tout his “Medicare for all who want it” plan, which he introduced earlier this week.
Ten candidates have planned rallies ahead of their appearances at the steak fry.
Here are the candidates appearing at the steak fry and the times they will speak:
- Former Congressman Beto O’Rourke (2:29 p.m.)
- Senator Kamala Harris (2:40 p.m.)
- Senator Cory Booker (2:51 p.m.)
- Senator Elizabeth Warren (3:02 p.m.)
- Senator Bernie Sanders (3:13 p.m.)
- Andrew Yang (3:24 p.m.)
- Former Vice President Joe Biden (3:35 p.m.)
- Mayor Pete Buttigieg (3:46 p.m.)
- Senator Amy Klobuchar (4:08 p.m.)
- Senator Michael Bennet (4:19 p.m.)
- Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro (4:30 p.m.)
- Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (4:40 p.m.)
- Tom Steyer (4:52 p.m.)
- Former Congressman Joe Sestak (5:03 p.m.)
- Governor Steve Bullock (5:24 p.m.)
- Marianne Williamson (5:14 p.m.)
- Congressman Tim Ryan (5:36 p.m.)
