Christian conservatives in Iowa applaud Cruz, Jindal

“I brought my Bible!” Donald Trump told more than 1,000 Iowa Christian conservatives the moment he hit the stage Saturday night.

The New York businessman was one of 13 Republican presidential candidates who tried various strategies to win over guests at the Iowa Faith & Freedom Coalition’s fall fundraising dinner in Des Moines.

Trump said he knows this audience is “a group that fully understands Bibles and respects everything that’s in it,” so he brought a Bible his mother gave him.

“I was just noticing yesterday that she wrote such a beautiful inscription,” he said.

That was too much for rival candidate Bobby Jindal, the governor of Louisiana.

“Folks, he hasn’t read the Bible. He’s not in the Bible. He only reads books he’s in,” Jindal said. “The reality of Donald Trump is that he’s a narcissist. He believes in nothing but himself.”

Jindal and Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, who both are targeting Christian conservatives as the foundation of their bids for the White House, received the most enthusiastic applause Saturday night.

MORE:

• Christian conservatives applaud Cruz, Jindal at Iowa event
• Kathie Obradovich: Anti-Washington rhetoric fired up the crowd
• More from the Iowa Faith & Freedom Forum

Christian conservatives make up the largest faction of likely Iowa Republican caucusgoers at 39 percent, a late August Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics Iowa Poll shows. Eight White House hopefuls appeared in person Saturday night at the Iowa State Fairgrounds to woo them; three appeared by video with pre-taped remarks; and two sent surrogates to make a pitch for them.

Trump is the current front-runner in the GOP presidential race in Iowa, but some Iowa evangelical conservatives have expressed skepticism about him since he said in July that he had never asked God for forgiveness and referred to communion as a “little cracker.”

After Trump’s speech Saturday, about one-fourth of the crowd gave him a standing ovation. In comparison, almost all of the audience members jumped to their feet to applaud and hoot both before and after remarks by Cruz, who derided “campaign conservatives” who are all talk.

“None say, ‘I’m a squishy establishment moderate.’ They run as us. Everyone of them stands up and says, 'I’m really one of those conservatives.' But at the same time they say, ‘If you’re actually one of us, you can’t get elected,’” Cruz said, disputing that notion.

Cruz, Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum are explicitly courting Christian conservatives as their central base of support.

Huckabee, during his 20-minute appearance, railed against efforts to promote homosexuality, saying President Barack Obama chose his U.S. secretary of the Army “based on homosexuality, not based on military capability.”

Huckabee, who won the GOP caucuses in 2008, blasted the Frito-Lay corporation for marketing “a special package of Doritos specifically for the gay community in order to give profits to one of the most violent, vicious and vulgar individuals in an organization I’ve ever met, who has suggested that people like Rick Santorum, Ben Carson and me should all have violent things done to us.”

Santorum, who won the caucuses in 2012, said he’s the only one in the presidential race who has “experience as an outsider,” skill as a congressional insider, and who has “never wavered” when it comes to fighting for life, marriage, faith and religious freedom.

“You know me,” he said.

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South Carolina U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, who has struggled to gain traction in the race in Iowa, stressed that he’s pro-life, supports traditional marriage and is the best candidate to defeat terrorists.

“I‘m not the most ideological pure person running,” Graham said, “but I am a really good conservative.”

Central themes of the night were opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, support for the Second Amendment and mixed feelings about ethanol. Abortion was the issue that stirred the most intensity from the audience.

There were a couple of mentions of Pope Francis, who arrives in the United States Tuesday.

Huckabee noted that he’s not Catholic, but he has great respect for the pope.

Trump boasted that he upstaged Francis’ visit with bigger media coverage of Trump’s failure to correct a man who told him at a New Hampshire event that Muslims are a "problem in this country" and that Obama isn’t an American.

It “was the biggest news story,” Trump said. “I even beat out the pope.”

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The other speakers who spoke live were former New York Gov. George Pataki and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Appearing by video were former tech company CEO Carly Fiorina, Ohio Gov. John Kasich and retired doctor Ben Carson. Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul sent backers to speak on their behalf.

One audience member, David Niffenegger, 33, of Des Moines, told the Register before Jindal and Cruz spoke: “Huckabee and Santorum were doing pretty good getting everybody up and going with the Second Amendment and the life (right to life) issue.

“Trump did his usual roundabout in answering questions. He is good at riling everybody up and getting his point across. I am glad to see him in the race because he helps everybody get their energy and enthusiasm up,” said Niffenegger, an Army veteran who is chief financial officer for the Lance Cpl. Ben Carman Academy.

Jeremy Davenport, 40, of Boone, who builds heavy equipment: “I’d say Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee were excellent. I wasn’t too thrilled with Trump.”

Later in the night, Jindal and Cruz were the most praised.

"Bobby Jindal, I wasn't aware of before," said Jon Greeb, 50, of Robins."But I heard good things."