Gallego’s Past Remarks Catch Up to Him Ahead of ‘Presidential Campaign’ Stop to Iowa

Senator Ruben Gallego’s past remarks have caught up with him again — this time ahead of another trip interpreted as an early campaign stop for the 2028 presidential race.

Gallego’s disparaging comments about Iowa resurfaced ahead of his planned visit to the Hawkeye state.

Senator Gallego came to lecture Iowans on the votes of their elected Republican representatives, Congresswomen Jonie Ernst and Mariannette Miller-Meeks, in support of President Donald Trump’s budget reconciliation bill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.

The Arizona senator accused Ernst and Miller-Meeks of trading Iowans health care, jobs, and future “for political favor” with Trump. Gallego also implied that he would be working to represent Iowans, despite being an elected representative of Arizona.

“I’m fighting for a future where every Iowan gets the same shot I did and better. And I’m not afraid to name names or speak hard truths. Because you deserve the truth, and you deserve someone still in this fight for you,” said Gallego. “Ernst and Miller-Meeks gave up on Iowa. I won’t.”

I’m headed to Iowa to hold Republicans accountable for passing a bill that drives up costs, cuts care, and lines billionaires’ pockets.

Ernst and Miller-Meeks gave up on Iowa. You deserve leaders who fight for you. pic.twitter.com/9PoalZZeAF

— Ruben Gallego (@RubenGallego) August 6, 2025

In recent years prior to becoming a senator, Gallego expressed support for running small farmers out of business. He issued a series of X posts on the subject in 2022 amid discussions of federal payouts to farmers. Small farmers were struggling under economic hardships prompted by COVID-19 and exacerbated by former President Joe Biden’s policies.

“Small farms are less economical than big agribusiness,” said Gallego in a 2022 tweet. “Why wouldn’t we let big AG take over instead.”

Iowa is second only to Texas in the nation for number of farms, per the USDA. The state is a top producer for animal products and corn.

The USDA found in its 2022 Census of Agriculture released last year that the number of farms fell below two million — the first time since before the Civil War.

In other posts collected and posted by the Iowa GOP, Gallego disparaged Iowa over its caucus performance. Iowan Democrats selected Pete Buttigieg in the 2020 presidential caucus. Gallego expressed a desire to punish Iowa for its performance by revoking the state’s traditional honor of being the first nominating contest and, consequently, setting the tone for the election cycle.

“F— caucuses. Iowa failed time to move on,” said Gallego. “Love my friends in Iowa and New Hampshire but time to move on. South Carolina and Nevada should start the primaries.”

In 2023, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) did just what Gallego and other Democratic leaders like former President Biden had asked. The DNC voted to hold its first presidential primary in South Carolina, then New Hampshire, Nevada, and Michigan.

Arizona Senator @RubenGallego is coming to Iowa this week. Here’s a reminder of what he really thinks about our great state ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/UAkSUiEr2V

— Iowa GOP (@IowaGOP) August 5, 2025

Back in May, Gallego traveled to the battleground state of Pennsylvania. The senator attended a town hall in the swing area of Bucks County. Also in attendance was the DNC vice chair, Malcom Kenyatta. Though, when asked, Gallego said he was “absolutely not” thinking about a 2028 presidential run at that point in time.

“Has [running for president] ever crossed my mind? F—ing of course, I’m an elected official, it crosses my mind,” said Gallego. “Big donors, big organizations, well-known political big Democratic operatives that have encouraged me to run. I’m not denying that.”

Yet, Gallego’s trip to Iowa represents just that — a visit widely accepted as a typical stop for a presidential run. The senator is scheduled to attend the Iowa State Fair on Friday, followed by a town hall in Quad Cities co-hosted by the Iowa Democratic Party and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

And last month, Gallego led an emergency town hall with the Alaska Democratic Party to discuss Trump’s budget reconciliation bill. Per exclusive details of the town hall given to The Hill, the DNC played a role in arranging Gallego’s headlining of the town hall — another indicator of Gallego’s potential role as a Democratic favorite for the 2028 race.