The Republican nominee for governor in Iowa pulled back the curtain for Fox News Digital on the time he went viral for stumping Barack Obama at a 2009 town hall centered on the then-president's namesake legislation.Zach Lahn pulled off an upset victory Tuesday night when he defeated Trump-backed Republican Rep.Randy Feenstra, R-Iowa, for the party's nomination for governor.But 17 years ago, when he was a student at the University of Colorado Boulder, Lahn confronted Obama at a town hall where the 44th president was promoting the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
The old clip went viral after his Tuesday win.Zach Lahn speaks to supporters after winning the Iowa GOP gubernatorial primary election on Tuesday, June 2, 2026.(Zach Lahn for Governor via Facebook)At the time of the exchange, the video was circulated by late conservative radio titan Rush Limbaugh, who praised Lahn as "amazing," and said that with "one simple question that Obama can't answer, [he] nukes the entire foundation of Obamacare."The candidate in what will be a hotly contested Iowa gubernatorial race posted the clip to his social media in May, but it gained widespread traction after Tuesday's primary election.GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE IN KEY 2028 WHITE HOUSE ELECTION CYCLE STATE ANNOUNCES RECORD FUNDRAISING HAULLahn recounted the moment to Fox News Digital on Thursday and remembered how shocked he was to be called upon at the event.
Lahn and his roommate purchased tickets to the 2009 event in Grand Junction and then drove eight hours round trip twice to attend the event — first to pick up tickets and again days later to attend the town hall."You know, I was young, and, I was in college at the time, going to University of Colorado Boulder, and so I was pretty fired up about this whole healthcare discussion," he said."It was just my entrance, sort of, into some of the political discussions."President Barack Obama speaks with CU student Zach Lahn during a town hall meeting at Central High Scho...