Eric Branstad, senior advisor to the Trump campaign in Iowa, said he’s confident the president has the support to win a second term in Iowa, despite polling showing a Iowa as a hotly contested battleground state.

The Trump campaign held a “Make Campus Great Again” event at Sports Column on Tuesday evening, which drew about 10 students.

Branstad, the son of former Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, said he’s seen immense energy in Iowa for Trump, and said it’s proof that the “silent majority” is enough to give Trump a second win in the state. He pointed to the Trump-themed boat parade on Lake Okoboji that drew more than a thousand boats decked out in Trump gear as proof that Trump has support in Iowa.

“I have spent my whole life in politics and my whole life doing things all over the state and all over the country,” Branstad said. “I have never felt energy like I did that day.”

Trump won 93 of Iowa’s 99 counties in 2016, and took 51.15 percent of the vote compared to Hillary Clinton’s 41.74 percent. Recent polls show a tighter race in Iowa this time around, with a June Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll showing Trump leading former Vice President Joe Biden by just 1 point — 44 percent to 43 percent.

Branstad told reporters he expects Trump will exceed expectations and that he has seen support for the president in the state similar to that in 2016.

“I’m not so concerned about Iowa because I’ve been out there talking to folks, and I feel that energy, and I felt it in 2016 too,” he said.

Branstad implored the small group gathered at the bar to organize and campaign for Trump in the two months leading up to the election, though he acknowledged organizing may be more difficult with social distancing restrictions.

“This is an election where we all have to do something,” he said. “If you can do the phone calls, I appreciate you guys coming out and showing your support tonight.”

Branstad told reporters that given the difficulty of organizing large campaign rallies during a pandemic, the campaign is turning to digital platforms to organize students.

“The energy is coming from all of the online presence that we’ve been seeing and the technology that we have now, we would have only dreamed of these kinds of things in 2016,” he said. “So to what we have now, we’re able to really interact and really be able to talk to people now virtually that we’ve never been able to do.”

According to data from the Iowa Secretary of State, registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the 18-24 age range by about 10,000 statewide. In Johnson County, there are 10,472 registered Democrats in that age range compared to 3,495 registered Republicans.

University of Iowa College Republicans president Mackenzie Jones told The Daily Iowan in an email that she was glad to see students turn out for the event. She said conservatives on campus don’t feel comfortable voicing their political opinions.

“UI College Republicans hopes to give these students a platform to support a Republican president and other important issues, rather than let them remain silent in fear of being shouted down,” she said.