Donald Trump’s presidential campaign blamed an intern for a controversial retweet that suggested Iowans had “issues in the brain”.



After a poll from Quinnipiac University Thursday morning which had Trump losing to retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in Iowa by a margin of 28%-20%, Trump’s account retweeted the following from user @mygreenhippo:

The retweet has since been deleted and a Trump campaign spokesperson told the Guardian: “This was mistakenly tweeted from Mr Trump’s account by an intern. Mr. Trump loves the people of Iowa and looks forward to being back in Sioux City on Tuesday.”

Trump’s Twitter account also tried to distance himself from the controversial tweet too.

The young intern who accidentally did a Retweet apologizes. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 22, 2015

The tweet raised the ire of Iowans not just because it implied that residents of the Hawkeye State were brain damaged; but it also seemed to imply that something was wrong with genetically modified crops with its reference to agribusiness giant Monsanto.

The tweet raised questions about how Trump, who consistently brags about his first place showing in national and state polls, might cope with a drop in his fortunes. The Quinnipiac poll in Iowa was the first survey of the state since July not to show Trump in first place.

It also opens a window into Trump’s much ballyhooed Twitter account, which has served as an aggressive outlet for the Republican frontrunner’s views, where he often retweets supporters.

In an August press conference, Trump said that he endorsed his retweets “to a certain extent”. He added: “You know, I retweet, I retweet for a reason.”