Trump retweets insult to Iowans' intelligence

By Gabby Morrongiello, Gabby Morrongiello

Published December 20, 2015

Donald Trump's reaction to a new poll showing him in second place in Iowa behind retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson by retweeting a supporter Thursday who suggested this was due to Iowans' heavy consumption of genetically-modified corn.

Some studies suggest GMOs can negatively affect human neurological functions, but the research remains widely up for debate.

David Kochel, a senior campaign strategist to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, used Trump's retweet as an opportunity to paint the GOP front-runner as a sore loser. Kochel quoted the tweet on his personal Twitter account, adding the hashtags #thinskin #cantwin.

Steve Deace, an influential conservative radio host based in Iowa, also weighed in, offering his own one-word reaction: "Yikes."

Trump's indirect insult to Iowans comes less than 24 hours after thousands of his supporters in the Hawkeye State turned out to hear him speak at a rally Wednesday night in Burlington, Iowa.