Rap songs, protests and pork chops: Top 5 moments at the Iowa State Fair

DES MOINES — One presidential contender rapped to Eminem's "Lose Yourself." Others flipped pork chops and played games. Donald Trump bought thousands of dollars worth of food, while his supporters dogged his main rival, Ron DeSantis, all weekend long.

With the August heat beating down, candidates met face-to-face with voters — and, in one case, a cow — in the first-in-the-nation caucus state.

Here are the top five moments from the opening weekend of the Iowa State Fair:

Vivek Ramaswamy raps “Lose Yourself”

Following his "fair-side chat" with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds on Saturday morning, GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy took to a crowd of supporters to unveil his alter ego "Da Vek," while rapping to Eminem’s “Lose Yourself.”

It all started when Reynolds asked Ramaswamy what his favorite walk-up song was, to which Ramaswamy answered with “Lose Yourself.” Reynolds wasn’t familiar with the song.

Not even five minutes later, the song was heard playing over the loudspeakers and Ramaswamy proceeded to rap to it.

It’s not Ramaswamy’s first time rapping to the song. During his time as an undergrad at Harvard, Ramaswamy became a regular at open-mic nights, where he often rapped “Lose Yourself.”

DeSantis dogged by protesters

It's a rite of passage for presidential candidates at the fair to visit the pork tent to flip pork chops. But on Saturday, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took his turn at the grill, he was met with loud chants of “We love Trump.” At the same time, a banner flew above in the sky with the words “Be likable Ron!”

DeSantis ignored the Trump supporters at the pork tent. But they kept chanting. And when it wasn't Trump supporters trolling DeSantis, he was forced to contend with protesters on the left.

Earlier that day, as soon as DeSantis’ “fair-side chat” with Reynolds began, protesters in the crowd began to blow whistles and ring cowbells to interrupt DeSantis’ speech.

A few minutes in, Reynolds took to the microphone to tell protesters that their behavior wasn’t “Iowa nice.”

Following a brief scuffle between the protesters and a DeSantis supporter, the protesters were kicked out of the event by law enforcement.

Pence gets asked if he committed treason on Jan. 6

On the first day of the fair, former Vice President Mike Pence was confronted with a tough question that he was eager to take on: "Why did you commit treason on Jan. 6?"

The question, from a Democrat, spoke to the difficulty Pence has had with rank-and-file Republicans infuriated by his refusal to overturn the results of the 2020 election. But Pence has been leaning into his actions that day, drawing a contrast with former President Donald Trump.

"There’s almost no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could pick the American president," Pence said. "The American presidency belongs to the American people."

Still, this is the fair, and the subject matter isn't all heavy. Walking the fair a day later, Pence was reunited with Chippy the cow.

The former vice president talked about meeting the cow when he was campaigning in Iowa earlier this year and then said hello to him when he was inspecting livestock.

Trump buys $20,000 worth of food

Former President Donald Trump overshadowed the other candidates' presence at the fair on Saturday with his plane flying over the fairgrounds and crowds of supporters waiting to catch a glimpse of him at the fair.

Trump only spent about an hour at the fair. But within that hour the former president spent $20,000 on food — $10,000 donated to fairgoers at the pork tent, and the other $10,000 spent at the Steer N’ Stein bar, where he held an event.

DeSantis rides bumper cars, Haley plays Skeeball

If the fair is an opportunity for presidential contenders to demonstrate how normal and just like you they are, Nikki Haley was game.

The former ambassador to the United Nations was one of the few candidates to walk around and play fair games on Saturday, playing with her son Nalin Haley and Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa).

Though no corndogs were eaten, Haley played Skeeball, basketball and won in the water gun balloon game. Ernst won in Skeeball, and Nalin won in basketball.

"It's way better for [candidates] to come and be in person and stuff because then you can actually talk to him and ask them questions and things like that," John Hathaway, of Ames, Iowa, said. "And they seem to do better too. It's a no-brainer they should come to [the Iowa State Fair.]"

The crowd erupted into cheers as Haley’s balloon popped, signaling she had won the game.

For other contenders, bumper cars were a draw. DeSantis, his wife Casey and his three children rode them on Saturday. Ramaswamy was seen with his son riding the bumper cars the previous day.