(Des Moines, Iowa) Official start of the 2024 White House race, the Iowa Republican caucuses provided Monday evening a first illustration of Donald Trump’s hold on his party’s electorate in him giving a historic victory. Held by bitter cold, however, they did not produce such a clear verdict in the fight for second place between Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.
The former president won the state election by an unprecedented margin of about 30 percentage points: after 95 percent of the votes were counted, he had 51 percent of the vote, compared to the governor’s 21.3 percent. of Florida and 19.1% for the former governor of South Carolina.
Never before had a winner edged his main rival by such a considerable margin during a Republican caucuse in Iowa not involving an outgoing president.
The previous record was held by former Kansas Sen. Bob Dole, who beat televangelist Pat Robertson by 13 percentage points in the 1988 caucuses.
During his victory speech, Donald Trump posed as a unifier, trying to forget his usual promises of revenge against those he perceives as his enemies.
PHOTO EVELYN HOCKSTEIN, REUTERS
Donald Trump posed as a unifier during his victory speech.
“Now is the time for everyone, for our country, to come together,” he said, touting his main rivals, including entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, who won more than 7% of the vote and announced subsequently his withdrawal from the race.
PHOTO SERGIO FLORES, REUTERS
Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy won more than 7% of the vote on Monday and subsequently announced his withdrawal from the race.
“We will come together. It won’t be long. It’s coming soon,” he added before turning his eyes to the heavens to address the mother of his wife Melania who died last week.
On Tuesday, Donald Trump is expected to be in New York to attend the start of his second defamation trial, brought against him by former journalist E. Jean Carroll, who accuses him of raping her in the 1990s.
PHOTO CHENEY ORR, REUTERS
Voters gathered at schools, libraries and fire stations across Iowa.
The New Hampshire Wall
Usually, the verdict of the Iowa Republican caucuses is not conclusive for the future. Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee are among the winners who failed to win the Grand Old Party’s presidential nomination race.
New Hampshire, whose Republican primary will take place on January 23, is often the first wall that the winner of Iowa hits. Nikki Haley, who dreams of creating a surprise in this New England state, recently mentioned this tradition.
PHOTO MARCO BELLO, REUTERS
Nikki Haley
“You know it’s Iowa going first. You know you fix [son verdict] she said at a rally in New Hampshire, drawing laughter from the crowd of voters. “And then it’s my beloved state, South Carolina, that brings it home.” »
The South Carolina Republican primary will take place on February 24. However, even though she served this state as governor, Nikki Haley is significantly behind Donald Trump in this state, according to polls.
No offense to Nikki Haley, the magnitude of Donald Trump’s victory in Iowa suggests that he will not experience the same fate as Cruz, Santorum and Huckabee. This triumph could be the start of an uninterrupted series of victories that could allow the former president to be his party’s presidential candidate for the third consecutive election.
Even though he does not have a real organization in New Hampshire, Ron DeSantis announced his intention to continue his campaign after his second place in Iowa. His campaign spokesman, Andrew Romeo, accused the media of “election interference” after the Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner of the caucuses 31 minutes after they began.
PHOTO BRENDAN MCDERMID, REUTERS
Ron DeSantis
“It is absolutely outrageous that the media participated in election interference by announcing the race before tens of thousands of Iowans even had a chance to vote. The media is all for Trump and this is the most egregious example yet,” he wrote on X.
Abortion
Despite the brilliance of his victory, Donald Trump will not emerge from Iowa unscathed. At a citizens’ meeting last Wednesday in Des Moines, he made a statement on abortion that could come back to haunt him if he wins the Republican nomination.
During the meeting, an opponent of abortion asked him to clarify his position on the subject and to assure her that he wanted to “protect lives without compromise”.
While crediting himself with the “miracle” of eliminating abortion rights, the former president warned Republicans against extreme positions that could harm them electorally.
Joe Biden’s campaign team immediately attacked Donald Trump, accusing him of boasting “proudly of being the one who got rid of Roe v. Wadepaving the way for Republican extremists across the country to pass draconian bans that harm women and threaten doctors.”
She will no doubt bring out the clip of the former president’s statement if necessary.
Polls conducted for CNN at caucus entrances also include results that could hurt Donald Trump in a general election. Asked whether the former president would be suitable for the presidency if convicted of a crime, 64 percent of Republicans surveyed said yes, while 31 percent said no.
Donald Trump could hardly be elected after a conviction if 31% of Republicans abandoned him.
But the former president must first ensure he is the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, which depends not only on Republican voters, but also on Supreme Court justices.