Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) met with some of the most influential grassroots conservative leaders and activists in Iowa on Saturday as he tested the waters for a potential 2016 run.

Cruz spoke at the Iowa State Fair and the Family Leadership Summit. According to Steve Deace, the conservative Iowa talk radio host, Cruz met with various grassroots leaders who would be needed to win the nation’s first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Deace told Breitbart News that many Iowans think Cruz would be the perfect presidential candidate, frequently telling him that they want a “fighter” like Cruz who is unafraid to take on Democrats and the GOP establishment. Deace compared Cruz to Clint Eastwood — after candidates who were “nice” did nothing to stop America’s decline, the country, especially conservative primary voters, may want a vigilante sheriff like Cruz.

At the Family Leadership Summit, Cruz discussed some of the many brawls he has been in on behalf of conservatives and some of the victories conservatives have had on Second Amendment and religious liberty issues. He vowed to repeal “every word” of Obamacare and abolish the IRS, while denouncing Common Core. He emphasized that the House’s border bill, which prevented President Barack Obama from using federal funds to enact more executive amnesty, is a deterrent against more illegal immigration.

As he said at the state fair, Cruz blasted Obama’s foreign policy by talking about the “the Obama diet” that he said is popular in D.C.

“It’s very simple,” he said. “You just let Putin eat your lunch every day.”

After Cruz spoke at the Des Moines Register soapbox event, he reportedly called Obama “an absentee president” for not visiting the border when Obama was in Texas fundraising and said he should stop playing golf during various crises.

“I think the president should actually stand up and do his job as commander in chief, should spend less time on the golf course and more time doing the job to which he was elected,” Cruz said, according to ABC News.

At the fair, Cruz was wowed by the famous butter cow, showed his support for Republican Senate candidate Joni Ernst, and enjoyed a pork chop on a stick. The Iowa State Fair, he said, is one place where “pork doesn’t bankrupt America.”

Other potential presidential candidates like Rand Paul, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and even Ben Carson will be playing in the so-called invisible primary in Iowa this month.

Meeting w grassroots leaders from across the State of Iowa before speaking at The Family Leadership Summit #FLS2014 pic.twitter.com/2XNzAb6tju — Team Cruz (@TeamTedCruz) August 9, 2014

Wow, a cow made of butter. My girls would love it. In fact, the first sentence Caroline ever said was “I like butter” pic.twitter.com/TzBZJmVFKT — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 9, 2014

Just cast my kernel for @JoniErnst at the Iowa State Fair. Iowa, we need Joni in the US Senate! pic.twitter.com/zwNYuwWkVZ — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) August 9, 2014