Trump Cements His Position in Iowa as the Frontrunner to Face Biden

With a commanding victory in the first Republican Presidential race of 2024 held in Iowa on Monday, January 15, 2024, Donald Trump demonstrated his dominance over the party despite several criminal allegations against him as he attempts to face President Joe Biden in a rematch.

With more than half of the vote, Trump has gained momentum ahead of what seems to be a close and extremely contentious November election campaign against Democratic Candidate Joe Biden.

Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, 45, narrowly lost to former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, 51, in second place in Iowa, but neither candidate could establish themselves as the front-runner.

With his enormous lead in national surveys, Trump, 77, who is the only sitting or former President of the United States to face criminal charges, strengthened his case for the nomination by winning by a historic margin in an Iowa Republican race.

With 99% of the predicted vote counted, Trump received 51%, DeSantis 21%, and Haley 19%, according to Edison Research. That winning margin far outpaced Bob Dole’s 1988 record of 12.8 percentage points.

“THANK YOU IOWA, I LOVE YOU ALL!!!” Trump sent a message on Truth Social, his social media network.

He intends to use a string of strong early primary victories to eliminate his competitors in an attempt to expedite the typically months-long Republican race selection process.

After garnering less than 8% of the vote on Monday, January 15, 2024 entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy called off his unlikely republican race and supported Donald Trump.

The contenders head straight to New Hampshire on Tuesday. Polls indicate that Trump has a slimmer advantage over Haley and that DeSantis will trail well behind when the more centrist Republicans in the state select their nominee next Tuesday.

Following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a mob of his supporters and his 91 criminal charges for attempting to rig the 2020 election, keeping classified documents after leaving the White House, and fabricating records over hush money payments to a porn star, Trump’s performance in Iowa demonstrated his continued popularity among Republican voters.

In addition to claiming to be innocent and to be the target of a “witch hunt,” Trump has mobilized supporters and raised money via his legal troubles.

Attendees of the Iowa caucuses, who believed that Biden could not have defeated Trump, backed his erroneous assertions about voting fraud in the 2020 Presidential contest.

A majority of over 60% expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to lead the country even in the event of a criminal conviction.

A survey conducted by Edison Entrance revealed that Trump obtained a majority not just among males but also among women, among those who identify as independent, moderately conservative, and highly conservative, and among those who completed college and those who did not.

He was able to get the opinions of most Republicans who stated that immigration was their biggest fear, as well as those who indicated that the economy was their top concern.

Republican strategist Jimmy Centers, based in Iowa, stated that “unless there is a rapid consolidation of the field, Trump looks to be on a fast track to the nomination.”

DeSantis and Haley, meanwhile, pledged to continue, guaranteeing that Trump’s opposition will continue to be divided as the campaign progresses.

“We’ve got our ticket punched out of Iowa!” DeSantis, who had pinned a lot on a good showing in the state, told supporters in West Des Moines on Monday, January 15, 2024.

“When you look at how we’re doing, in New Hampshire, in South Carolina and beyond, I can safely say tonight Iowa made this Republican primary a two-person race,” Haley stated on Monday night, January 15, 2024.

Trump has attempted to project an air of inevitableness around his campaign. By avoiding most of the county-by-county politicking that other candidates engage in before the Iowa primary and missing all five of the Republican debates so far.

The first-ever caucus in Iowa took place at schools, community centers, and other locations despite extremely high temperatures. This marked the formal start of the 2024 Presidential Campaign, which had been building for months with debates and events.

Rita Stone, a 53-year-old Trump supporter who attended a caucus at a West Des Moines high school, said, “Trump is very narcissistic, he’s very cocky, but he’s going to get stuff done.”

Stone, who praised Trump’s efforts to erect a wall while in office, expressed, like many other voters, that her top issue is the Southern border between the United States and Mexico.

Read Also: Christie Suspends Campaign, Dismiss Rivals

Voters in Iowa must physically assemble in small groups for the caucus, unlike in a regular election, and then cast secret votes following statements by campaign officials.

According to Edison’s prediction, there would be just around 111,000 ballots tallied, representing a significant decrease from the record 187,000 votes cast in the Republican caucus in 2016. 

Because of its early date on the campaign calendar, Iowa has historically had a significant influence on Presidential elections.

However, the Republican nominee from Iowa’s 2008, 2012, and 2016 caucuses did not win the nomination in the following three close races.

Because of its early date on the campaign calendar, Iowa has historically had a significant influence on Presidential elections.

However, in the previous three close races—2008, 2012, and 2016—the Republican nominee from Iowa did not proceed to win the caucus.