Although farmer‑entrepreneur Zach Lahn did not receive the endorsement of President Trump, he managed to pull off a surprise victory in the GOP gubernatorial primary race Tuesday and is now headed to the general election in November against Democratic State Auditor Rob Sand. Trump had endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra, who quickly supported Lahn after the numbers came in. RedState’s Ben Smith reports:
At his election night gathering, Feenstra told supporters:
"I just called Zach Lahn, and said, 'Hey, you got to carry this torch. We got to keep this state red. You got to make sure you beat Rob Sand.' And I'm all in to help him out."
We did it!!!
— Zach Lahn (@ZachLahn) June 3, 2026
Thank you IOWA!
IOWA FIRST!
Lahn has been involved in politics for a long time — and in late May, he posted a 2009 video of him in college nuking then-President Barack Obama and his signature disaster, the Affordable Care Act. The clip has gone viral now that Lahn is the GOP nominee, plus there’s a bonus: we get to hear the late great radio titan Rush Limbaugh again.
Watch:
The full clip from the Obama town hall while I was in college in 2009.
— Zach Lahn (@ZachLahn) May 23, 2026
Plus commentary from one of my heroes in the conservative movement.
Listened to him every day. I still remember hearing great Grandma say “Rush is on”.
God bless Rush Limbaugh. 🇺🇸🎙️ pic.twitter.com/di2HVYzewb
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Lahn made Obama squirm at the town hall by asking the salient and obvious question: Wouldn’t Obamacare stifle competition and increase prices?
Speaking to Obama in 2009, Lahn said: "We all know the best way to reduce prices in this economy is to increase competition."
"How in the world can a private corporation providing insurance compete with an entity that does not have to worry about making a profit, does not have to pay local property taxes, they're not subject to local regulations? How can a company compete with that?" he questioned.
Watch the exchange to see Obama bob and weave and totally fail to answer the question.
"Certainly they can't compete if the taxpayer is standing behind the public option just shoveling more and more money in," Obama replied. "That's certainly not fair, and so I've already said I would not be in favor of a public option of that sort because that would just mean more expenses out of our pockets and we wouldn't be seeing much improvement in quality."
He basically admitted Lahn had a point:
For another minute or so, Obama stuttered through an answer to Lahn's question about competition, wrestling publicly with the idea that private insurance companies would also have to borrow money at high interest rates, something else the government would not have to do.
Lahn now recalls the answer as a “word salad.” Indeed.
El Rushbo was impressed and said, “This kid is amazing!” But the real joy in the story was expressed well by this social media poster:
I love hearing Rush’s voice again 💔
— Maureen Jankowski (@Mo_Jankowski) May 24, 2026
Mega-dittos.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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