GOP presidential candidate stops by Charles City

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

A hopeful presidential candidate visited Charles City on Friday, June 30.

Ryan Binkley, a businessman and pastor from Texas, has been campaigning across the state in a bid for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election. He stopped by Aromas Coffee on Friday afternoon to introduce himself to the Charles City community.

“I’m running for president to change the culture of America,” said Binkley. “We’ve never been more divided in my lifetime. … We’ve got to figure out what we can unite on.”

Hoping to resolve not just the divisions between conservatives and liberals, Binkley also wants to see his own party cut down on the in-fighting and return to prioritizing more traditional conservative values.

“Republicans have lost their way,” said Binkley. “We’re fighting like crazy and we need to stop.”

Binkley is a long-shot candidate in a field currently dominated by former President Donald Trump. While Binkley said he appreciated some of Trump’s achievements while in office, in particular his appointment of Supreme Court justices, he says that it is time for the party to move past that brand of politics.

“To me, he’s like a bulldozer,” said Binkley, likening the former president’s actions in office to a role in constructing a building. “If you want to build the second floor of that building, you’ve got to put the bulldozer away.”

Binkley likewise differentiated himself from the second highest profile competitor in the Republican field, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Where DeSantis’ “Never Back Down” campaign has been unapologetic about antagonizing those on the other side of the political spectrum, Binkley emphasizes the value in finding common ground.

Recognizing that his party has largely lost the support of voters in major population centers, particularly in the younger demographics, Binkley said he wants to find ways to meet them in the middle on issues.

For example, on the subject of immigration, Binkley acknowledged that while Republicans prioritize border security, Democrats place a higher value on the humanitarian issues on immigration, and that both priorities will need to be satisfied in order to make progress on either.

“Democrats want to plan for the immigrant, Republicans want to secure the border,” said Binkley. “Republicans can’t do it on their own.”

Championing a reduction in federal spending, Binkley’s plans are to slash the federal budget and instead set up systems where business can fund areas in need of resources while volunteers dedicate their time to fixing the country’s systemic shortfalls.

“I want to start a volunteer movement,” said Binkley.

Binkley also wants to overhaul the health care system by allowing people to purchase health insurance across state lines and let them shop around for medical services by increasing up-front price transparency.

“I want to de-socialize health care,” said Binkley. “Everybody with insurance is subsidizing everybody without insurance.”

Binkley’s visit to Charles City was facilitated by Morgan Bonwell, a Charles City native who has gone on to start a political consulting firm that supports first-time conservative candidates.

Binkley is seeking individual donations needed to qualify for the RNC debates and said he will be at the Iowa GOP’s Lincoln Dinner in Des Moines at the end of the month before moving on to New Hampshire.