IOWA CITY, Iowa — With Bernie Sanders stuck in Washington for President Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, liberal filmmaker Michael Moore is camping out in Iowa to campaign for the Vermont senator’s presidential bid.
With the Iowa caucuses looming on Feb. 3, Sanders, 78, has no in-person events scheduled through Sunday. Instead, top supporters speaking for him include Moore and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the firebrand Democratic freshman House member from New York. Both will make stops at two colleges on Thursday and Sunday. The two have campaigned for Sanders in the past.
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In 2016, Moore accurately predicted that Trump would beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the general election, citing anxiety from white, working-class voters. He has also said that Trump could win reelection should the Democrats not nominate a sufficiently progressive candidate.
The race for Iowa remains close, with a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls showing a number of the candidates within striking distance of each other. Recent surveys have Joe Biden leading at 21% support, Sanders at 17.3%, Elizabeth Warren at 16.7%, Pete Buttigieg at 16.3%, and Amy Klobuchar at 8.3%.
Democratic senators running for president have been hamstrung by the impeachment trial and are relying on backers to speak for them at Iowa events. On Sunday, Klobuchar will be hosting three events in the eastern portion of the state while Warren will hold two.
The senators announced the schedules earlier in the week in an effort to show Iowa voters that they remain committed to a last-minute push in the state despite the impeachment trial in the Senate handing a huge advantage to Buttigieg and Biden.
[Read more: Senate Democrats use creative campaigning to work around impeachment ahead of 2020 contests]
