When a poll put Donald Trump in second place in Iowa, biotech corn was fingered as the culprit on social media before the Trump campaign apologized, says Agri-Pulse. The dustup began when Trump’s Twitter feed reposted a tweet that originated with a Nevada businessman, who noted that surgeon Ben Carson was leading Trump in Iowa, and then added: “Too much #Monsanto in the #corn creates issues in the brain?” Agri-Pulse said, “Trump, or someone who works for him, later appeared to apologize and blame the reposting on an intern.” The reposted tweet was deleted from Trump’s account.
The tweet inspired responses that defended Iowans and farmers, along with some by rival Republicans who tried to make political hay. A Monsanto official tweeted, “Monsanto or #GMO corn doesn’t create brain issues & remember when Donald Trump & Ben Carson were a little #antivax?” said Agri-Pulse. The Quinnipiac University poll of likely caucus-goers said Carson led with 28 percent and Trump was second at 20 percent.
Politico said it received an email from a Trump spokesperson saying, “This was mistakenly tweeted from Mr. Trump’s account by an intern. Mr. Trump loves the people of Iowa and looks forward to being back in Sioux City on Tuesday.”