'Strong like John Wayne': Donald Trump holds campaign event in front of John Wayne statue
Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, was introduced at the event by Wayne's daughter, Aissa Wayne, as they stood in front of a John Wayne statue.
"This is the place in Iowa where legends are made," Aissa Wayne told the reporters gathered there.
"And we have somebody that I want to welcome personally here to the birthplace of John Wayne," she added. "And that is Mr. Donald Trump. And hopefully for America, he'll be our next president of the United States."
The daughter of the famous Western movie star said that if John Wayne were still alive, he'd be endorsing Trump's campaign, too. Aissa Wayne directly compared Trump's attributes to her father's.
"The reason that I'm here to support Mr. Trump is because America needs help," she said. "And we need a strong leader. And we need someone like Mr. Trump with leadership qualities, somebody with courage, someone that's strong like John Wayne."
She added: "If John Wayne were around, he'd be standing right here instead of me."
Trump said he was a "longtime fan" of John Wayne.
"We love John Wayne," the candidate said after he finished taking reporters' questions. "We love John Wayne and we love his family equally, right? Equally."