The Donald Trump circus rolled into the Iowa State Fair on Saturday, complete with free helicopter rides for the kids.
“I love children. I love Iowa,” The Donald declared upon his arrival at the election-season rite of passage, where presidential hopefuls vie for photo ops eating corn dogs and fried Snickers bars.
But Trump’s helicopter free-ride stunt got the most attention Saturday.
“Who’s going first? Where are your parents?” Trump asked a crowd of about 20 kids, many wearing “Trump” T-shirts, before they piled aboard his $7 million chopper.
For safety reasons, Trump was barred from offering the rides in the fairgrounds, so he rented a nearby parking lot.
Children went up in groups of five for five-minute jaunts. The GOP presidential candidate accompanied them on some of the flights.
Democratic front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton wasn’t immune to state-fair silliness, snapping selfies with voters while she ate a pork chop on a stick and drank an oversized lemonade.
“I highly recommend it,” Clinton gushed of the fried treat.
Clinton posed for photos with a real cow called Maggie and a butter sculpture of a heifer.
Former Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin, who retired from Congress after 30 years in January, endorsed Clinton and strolled with her through the Des Moines fairgrounds.
It wasn’t all fun and games. The former secretary of state also claimed during a question-and-answer session that she “never sent or received any e-mails marked classified” through her private servers.
Fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders drank a root beer and made a 15-minute speech from the fair’s famous soapbox, speaking out against student debt, mandatory minimum sentencing and the Republican Party’s talk of “family values.”
As Sanders — among the poorest presidential candidates — spoke, Trump’s helicopter circled the fair.
“I apologize — we left the helicopter at home. I forgot to bring it,” the Vermont senator quipped.
Both Sanders and Clinton appeared at a Democratic fund-raiser on Friday night, where Clinton was photographed watching Sanders’ speech from a spot in the crowd.
On Friday, Republican candidate Jeb Bush got into the carnival spirit by downing a fried Snickers, a pork chop on a stick and a Budweiser, although he usually sticks to a strict Paleo diet.
With Post Wire Services