Trump tells Iowans he understands pain of blue-collar workers, says media and political elite don't

Donald Trump Sunday in Iowa (AP photo)

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he understands blue-collar workers better than other politicians or journalists, Robynn Tysver reports for the Omaha World-Herald. During a speech Sunday in Sioux City, Iowa, the billionaire real-estate developer said, "The media and the political elite don’t know the pain and suffering these people are living under, but I figured it out a long time ago, and that’s why I’m here with you."

A poll released Saturday by The Des Moines Register gave Trump a 7-point lead in Iowa over Hillary Clinton, 46 percent to 39 percent. He referred to the poll almost immediately after taking the stage Sunday. He "sounded confident of winning the state. He also sounded a little bit nostalgic, recalling the day he came down on an escalator in June 2015 in New York City to announce his presidential bid to skeptical political reporters and others. Trump described himself as a political insider who became an outsider that day to help the working class," Tysver reports.

Iowa has a large rural population, but in recent years has supported Democratic presidential candidates, mostly in close contests. President Obama narrowly won the Hawkeye State in 2008 and 2012. President George W. Bush won it in 2004, but Democratic candidates won the state from 1988 to 2000. Trump, like many Republican candidates, has done well in rural areas; 36 percent of Iowa's population is rural, according to the Iowa Data Center.