Donald Trump has insulted Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker because one of Walker’s fundraisers called the billionaire real estate mogul “DumbDumb”.

At a packed rally at Oskaloosa High School on July 25, Donald Trump said: “Finally, I can attack!”

“Wisconsin’s doing terribly. It’s in turmoil. The roads are a disaster because they don’t have any money to rebuild them. They’re borrowing money like crazy. They projected a $1 billion surplus, and it turns out to be a deficit of $2.2 billion. The schools are a disaster. The hospitals and education was a disaster. And he was totally in favor of Common Core!”

The mention of the state-driven education standards — from which Scott Walker, like many Republican governors, has walked away — incited a prolonged boo.

Donald Trump also told a story about Scott Walker giving him a “beautiful plaque” out of gratitude for campaign donations and wondered if: “Wisconsin paid for it.”

Photo AP

Republicans’ hopes of banishing Donald Trump from their presidential primary may have wilted in the heat of the Iowa summer. On his first visit to the caucus state since the McCain insult, Donald Trump drew a crowd of 1,300 in a city of 11,463. He cleaned up his remarks about veterans, from the stage and in the crowd. He talked with characteristic gusto about “killing in the polls and” securing a spot in the party’s first sanctioned debate, scheduled for August 6.

“I’m going to be there, much to the chagrin of many people,” Donald Trump told reporters.

As they lined up for the speech, conservative Iowans fell into two camps. One group adored Donald Trump’s brio, but wished he hadn’t gotten personal with John McCain (R-Ariz.). The larger camp egged Donald Trump on for again refusing to play nice. Although a Washington Post/ABC News poll showed Donald Trump’s ratings slipping after his comments about John McCain, the crowd in Oskaloosa saw another reason to trust him. Some Republican voters, who had dutifully turned out for “anti-establishment” candidates and been disappointed, insisted that Donald Trump was just the man to blow up the system.

In Oskaloosa, Donald Trump told his main audience, of 700, about his July 23 visit to the US-Mexico border. He told an overflow audience that President Barack Obama had failed POWs by winning Bowe Bergdahl’s release from the Taliban but not getting Iran to turn over hostages.

He also won cheers for telling how he denied credentials to the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s largest newspaper, after its editorial board called on him to quit the race. In a back-and-forth with reporters, with the Register’s team kept outside his event, Donald Trump proved that he was comfortable being playful with the facts.