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Former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro

The former HUD Secretary and San Antonio mayor called for Iowa farmers to not stand idle as the trade war lost farmers profits and earnings.

The second day of the fair kicked off with a promise of sunshine and a hot day, long lines to fair parking, and another presidential candidate — former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro.

Addressing climate change has been a constant of Castro’s campaign and stump speech. He said he would reduce the U.S. carbon emissions to net-zero by investing federal dollars in wind, water, and other alternative energy.

During a press gaggle after his speech, Castro told reporters he hoped Iowa farmers would use the leverage they have — being the first nation in the state to winnow candidates for the presidential nominee — to push for climate-change legislation.

He went on to rail against the trade war with China, which President Trump escalated last week by adding a 10 percent tariff on more than $300 billion worth of Chinese goods.

“Iowa farmers understand how badly this president has betrayed them,” Castro told reporters. “… This president’s haphazard trade war is costing jobs and costing farmers their livelihood here in Iowa, and they’re just watching it go by. I would say to Iowa farmers: This is not what you bargained for; this man is not who he said he would be.”

A majority of his speech on the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox stage covered his family background. His grandmother immigrated to Texas from Mexico, and his mother was the first in the family to graduate from high school. Each raised her children as a single parent.

Castro also brought his wife and two kids to the fair, joking that they would likely enjoy the bumper cars and bacon on stick.

One person at the end of his speech asked the former San Antonio mayor why he wasn’t in El Paso after a mass shooting in a crowded Walmart on Aug. 3. Former Texan congressman and El Paso native Beto O’Rourke canceled his appearance at the Iowa State Fair after hearing news of the shooting to be with shooting victims, their families, and the wider community.

Castro said that although his campaign considered spending time in Texas this week, he and the staff decided against going because El Paso wasn’t Castro’s home, and he thought the people there needed to grieve and receive support, as opposed to more politicians such as him stopping by for photo ops.

“I don’t think what they need is more presidential candidates over there,” Castro said. “What they need is our support.”

He went on to push for congressional action to pass background-check laws to loud cheers from the audience. On the morning of Aug. 9, Castro released a plan addressing gun violence.

Castro during his speech called for universal pre-K education and noted a measure in San Antonio while he was mayor that added a tax to use municipal dollars to pay for preschool.

Along the same lines, he called for more federal dollars in trade-education programs and reducing the cost of higher education.

On health care, he called to strengthen Medicare “and make it available to every single person who wants it.”

He backed legalizing marijuana and passing sentencing reform. A crowd cheer followed Castro saying he was the first candidate to propose a plan that would hold accountable police departments that treat people of color differently.

He noted the skyrocketing Des Moines rent and talked about his plan to invest in affordable housing and housing for those who are homeless. During his tenure in the Obama administration, he said, the percent of veteran homelessness was reduced by nearly half.

On immigration, he wants ending family separations and beginning a 21st-century Marshall Plan for Latin American countries such as Honduras.

“I don’t want to make our country great again,” Castro said. “I don’t want to go backward, I want to make our country better than it’s ever been.”

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